Gentleman – START YOUR ENGINES!

Admittedly we are not big race fans. However, a combination of cabin fever and the promise of automobiles hurdling thru the Ozarks backwoods has peaked our (maybe I should say “my”) interest. For several years there has been a sanctioned rally type event not far from where we live. It’s called the 100 Acre Wood Rally here’s a link: 100 Acre Wood Rally.

The event headquarters is Salem, MO, a sleepy little town in the south central part of the state. This must be the biggest annual event in Salem as witnessed by every business having a “Welcome 100 Acre Rally Participants” sign out front. The gist of the race is that there are timed trial sections of road all around Salem. The participants drive between these trial sections and then compete to see who can drive each section the fastest. When I say fastest – I mean HOLY CRAP! WHAT THE HELL JUST FLEW BY ME AT 100MPH?

It would be impressive to see these cars fly by at such high speeds on asphalt or concrete. But that is not what Rally Racing is all about. These guys are slinging these cars around corners, up and down hills and across water crossings on roads that consist of no more than graded DIRT and GRAVEL.

ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!

This must be a pretty popular type of racing. We saw license plates from as far away as Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, and Ontario, Canada. Watching the race could only be done from certain designated locations with very strict rules as to where you could or could not stand. After watching a few of these cars fly by Erin was ready to give it a try. Look for her and I to be piloting one of these all-wheel-drive 4 cylinder land missals in next years race. Now, where can I find a racing jump suit in a portly size 60 long?



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Freshly Groomed

I have been seized by spring cleaning as of late. Not even Riley escaped my quest for clean. Here is he, just back from the groomer. His wonderful groomer, Sarah, was saying that he is really good on the table and had lots of energy to play with the other dogs once he was done. Just as she said that, he made a beeline for me, jumping up and almost knocking me over. **Sigh** At least he looks good!

An Unusual Moment

Henrietta, also known as BC or Brown Cat, rarely ventures downstairs. She prefers the relative safety of upstairs, where she is less likely to be chased by Riley. But Saturday she was spotted enjoying the sunshine downstairs. Gracie was as close to the sun as she could get without risking the wrath of Henny. I lured Riley over with the promise of a treat for this picture. ALL our pets in one picture! Probably won't happen again for a long time.

Out With The Old, In With the New

Last year around this time, we attended the last regular season game in the old gymnasium, Weiser Gym, at our alma mater. Friday, we were invited to join my friend Christina and her friend Mindy in the fancy schmancy new gym - O'Reilly Family Event Center.We didn't just get to watch the game in the fancy new gym...we got to sit in a private suite! With comfortable leather seats...and a sink and a fridge. It was great! Thank you to Christina for inviting us.
Might be hard to go back to the regular plastic seats with the common folk though. ;)
Don't worry...we didn't let David or Mindy leave with the decorations.

Snow Day!

For the second day in a row, I'm enjoying a snow day. Snowmageddon has hit southern Missouri. Riley spent a lot of the day going in and out, in and out, dragging in snow with his every return.
Finally, we decided to join him. He doesn't seem to mind the snow at all! I wish I could say that I've gotten lots done, but I haven't. Lots of sitting around, sleeping late, and napping. I think that's the only cure for cabin fever.

Picky Eater

We have some of David's mom's cookbooks, like this Campbell Soup one. I was thumbing through it tonight, when I found a page she'd marked and made notes on. This is note made me laugh out loud! David says he remembers eating it and that she was right - he didn't like it! Guess I won't be making this one any time soon. :)

Just Say No

Step one in the great Living With Less project is to be more deliberate in bringing items into the house. Reasonably easy to do while shopping, but what about the "free" stuff handed to you at various events? This weekend, David and I attended an RV show. The first 100 people through the door were gifted with free RV toilet paper. While in line, we decided we didn't really need nor want RV toilet paper to use in our imaginary RV, so I said no thank you to the t.p. man. He kind of looked at me funny, but we went on. One of the RV salesmen offered me a yard stick. Again, no thank you. "But it's autographed!" he protested while he still held out the yard stick to me. Smile, repeat no thank you! While we walked through the junk being peddled between the RV and boat section, a woman stuck out her hand with a small packet. "Would you like a sample of Scentsy!" It wasn't a question so much as an assumption. "No thank you!" She looked a little taken aback, as if shocked that I wasn't interested in a sample. Had I not been paying attention, I would have come home with RV toilet paper, a yard stick, and a Scentsy packet. I don't need any of those things, but they would have been mine to dispose of in some way, or to keep around cluttering up the place.

Today three boxes of housewares, a bag of clothes, and four coats made their way to an organization where hopefully they will be used by someone who needs them more than I do. One of my favorite declutter/minimalist type blogs is http://www.365lessthings.com/. Every week, she gives suggestions for mini-tasks like cleaning out your glovebox or pen drawer. Right up my alley!