For Race Fans Only

The month of May is almost here! May has always been one of my favorite months of the year, second only to October. A few years ago you would always know where to find me during May ~ I would be at the Indy 500 track sitting in the stands with my friends, drinking beer, and stalking race car drivers. For 32 years I lived only a short walk from the famous Speedway and I LOVED it! My parents started taking me to the race when I was only 2. As a kid my dad use to work at the track as a yellow shirt and before that he would hop into the trunk of a buddys car and sneak in for the race. Both mom and dad loved AJ Foyt so he became my favorite driver too. The first race I actually remember was the 1973 race - we were sitting near Salt Walther's crash and to this day it remains one of the worst crashes I have ever witnessed at the track. As bad as it might sound, that is what got me hooked... it was the element of danger.


Abigails first time at Track


During the month of May when I was in junior high my mom would even call me in sick to school so we could go to the track for the day. One time we were walking to the track with a cooler in hand and we ran right into my vice principal. Without blinking an eye mom said we were heading to Rosners drugstore to get me some cold medicine and we had to put it on ice... then she told him the truth without even slowing down because we were in a hurry because it was Fast Friday.

I mentioned that I was a race car stalker.. Yes it is true. I could not tell you how many hours I have spent in the garage area waiting to see, talk, or get a picture or autograph of my favorite driver. I have so many great memories of the times I have spent in the garage area.

Like I said, AJ Foyt will always be my favorite driver! The best memory I have of him was the first time I went to the Indy 200 in Disney World. I was there with my parents and we stayed in the Polynesian Resort. We were just getting in from a long day at the parks and I went outside on the pier in my PJs to watch the fireworks. I heard someone talking and looked over and couldn't believe it... It was AJ !!! I can't tell you how excited I was... I ran like lightening back to the room to change my clothes and told mom and dad to get dressed again and then we went into stalking mode.... He was having a late dinner in the lobby and I sat outside the restaurant and waited. When he finally came out I asked him if I could get my picture with him and he was actually really nice. I was so nervous because my dad invented the word slow and it seemed like forever until he took the picture. So worth it!


He has always been one of my heroes!

Most of my times and memories at Indy were happy, but when Scott Brayton was killed during practice in 1996 I remember being really sad. He was on the pole for the race and just a few days before his wreck I got to meet him at a downtown fan fair. He was so funny and you could tell that he was just a great guy.

I made it to 37 straight Indy 500s and I never thought I would ever miss a race but when the IRL and Cart split happened it slowly became less exciting for me. Without the names Foyt, Andretti, Mears, and Unser it just lost my interest. This year will be my 3rd Indy 500 that I will watch from home and Yes I will be sad and probably cry a tiny bit when I hear "Back Home again in Indiana", and when I hear" Gentlemen Start Your Engines" I will get goosebumps as always, and when they wave the checkered flag I will raise my glass of beer and smile ~ for me, the race has lost a lot of its luster, but for some reason the history of the race and everything that goes on in the town of Speedway during the month of May will never leave me, and I will always treasure my times at the track with family and friends.

Jeff and I get so mad because we are both from Indy and now living in Southern Indiana we just hate the news here. Right now all we will hear about is the Derby- but you will be lucky to find out the winner of the Indy 500 come race night. So frustrating! **** I have paused a few minutes to think why did I just write a blog about the Indy 500???? I guess this time of year I tend to get homesick. I have no family there now but Speedway will always be my home.
Jeff at Indy

Meanest Mom in the World

My Mom in High School

Me with Mom and Dad

MEANEST MOTHER IN THE WORLD

I had the meanest mother in the world. While other kids had candy for breakfast, I had to eat cereal, eggs and toast.

While other kids had cola and candy for lunch, I had a sandwich. As you can guess, my dinner was different from other kids' dinners, too.

My mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times. You'd think we were on a chain gang or something. She had to know who our friends were and what we were doing.

I am ashamed to admit it, but she actually had the nerve to break the child labor law. She made us work.

We had to wash dishes, make the beds and learn how to cook. That woman must have stayed awake nights thinking up things for us kids to do.

And she always insisted that we tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

By the time we were teenagers, she was much wiser and our life became even more unbearable. None of this tooting the car horn for us to come running; she embarrassed us to no end by insisting that the boys come to the door to get us.

I forgot to mention that most of our friends were allowed to date at the mature age of 12 and 13, but our old-fashioned mother refused to let us date until we were 15.

She really raised a bunch of squares. None of us was ever arrested for shoplifting or busted for dope. And who do we have to thank for this?

You're right, our Mean Mother.

I am trying to raise my children to stand a little straighter and taller and I am secretly tickled to pieces when my children call me mean. I thank God for giving me the meanest mother in the world.

Our country doesn't need a good five-cent cigar. It needs more mean mothers like mine.

Blessings on That Wonderful Woman.

When I was younger my mom would always cut things out of the paper for me to read, I use to hate that!!! This particular article, Meanest Mother In The World, was featured by Ann Landers and my mom cut it out and had it on the Fridge because I refused to take the time to read it. Today I was thinking about that and found the article thanks to Google. I also remember Mom telling be about " paybacks and how they can be a B**** - and one day when you have kids you will understand" No truer words were ever spoken ~ I remember when I was about 5 I took my wiffle ball bat and knocked all the petals off the tulips (about 100 tulips) - yesterday was one of many "paybacks" I will be enduring as a mother ... Caroline came to me with a bucket of tulips that she had yanked out of the ground.

It looks like it will be a busy weekend for me again. We need to get our camper ready for our first outing in May, I am having a yard sale next week, and I am involved in a big project for my mother in laws Mothers Day present. Wish me Luck!

Todays Ramblings

This has really been a big week for Abigail. She finally got her outside play set that she has been wanting and she has also decided that when she grows up she wants to be a paleontologist. Right now her 2 favorite things are the Disney Princesses and Dinosaurs. Last year we took her to the Children's Museum and since then her little 5 year old mind has been preoccupied with the T-Rex and all of his prehistoric friends. If the show Jeopardy had the dinosaur category she would not lose.

Last week was not a good week for me at all! No good reason, I am not really sure why... I was just so tired! This week has been good! Good work week for me and my energy level has been way up. Maybe I can contribute that to eating better.

Today I had a pretty long "To Do" list and I hate to say it but nothing was checked off. It was all yard work that needed to be done but .... We have had this bush in the back yard that I have hated since the day we moved here. One year Jeff took a chainsaw to it and it grew back, we have poured root killer on it and have tried to dig part of it up with no luck. It is the bush from Hell !!! It stands about 12ft high and there are several other small trees and "things" that are growing in the middle of it. You can't mow or even walk near it without it grabbing you and drawing blood. Today I walked out there and gave it my evil eye look, like I always do... however, today was the day that I had enough!!! I poured some lighter fluid on it and set it on fire. Before lighting it up I trimmed some branches and I hate to say it but I do believe the bush won again... My arms look like I was attacked by about 20 cats and I bet I spent about 5 hours on that stupid bush and didn't accomplish anything, You just can't kill it!!!

Another random thought.. We are only a few weeks into this nice spring weather where the kids play outside most of the day. I swear at the end of the day when it is time to go inside I would pay someone $100 to clean them up. How can they get that dirty??? I was trying to tackle the bush and Abby comes to me and says.. " Caroline just pooped up in the fort" I go over there and climb up only to find a big turd sitting on the floor. Will there ever be an end to the poop stories?

T-bones and Rib Eyes ???

What a Great weekend! The weather was perfect, we got some things done around the house, and we also had time to play.

Jeff came home the other day with something for me to think about-

When we first moved to Southern Indiana neither Jeff or I had a clue on how to take care of farm animals. When we bought our place we inherited chickens and goats and then we added the donkeys. I have always wanted to have land where you could plant a garden, flowers, trees, ... and I love the fact that we can have farm animals. I become really attached to animals, even chickens! I actually named all 16 chickens! There was this one chicken that we liked a little more than the others - we called him Hitler because he did not walk around like the other chickens.. he had a German march and he high stepped. For reasons unknown, he got sick. Now at this time our house was a big mess because we were in the middle of remodeling.. we didn't have the carpet and the walls were not painted... I tell you this because I felt bad for Hitler and wanted him to get better so I brought him in the house and fixed him a spot in a box in the bathroom with a heat lamp. The next day he seemed better so I took him back out to the barn with the rest of the chickens and he died the next night. I was heart broken!


Another bad experience came when our female donkey gave birth for the first time. First of all we had no clue she was pregnant and then she rejected the baby. We had a vet come out and he wasn't much help and the next day things got worse.. I picked up the baby donkey and raced with it on my lap to another vet and they started an IV and did a few things and when I brought her home she slept in a Rubber made box on my kitchen floor until she passed away. I cried all night, then wrapped her in my IU blanket and we buried her in the back pasture. We lost one more baby donkey a few years ago and because of all of these experiences I think I have really toughened up a lot when it comes to farm animal death.


Why am I blogging about something so sad and morbid??? You can thank my husband Jeff. He comes home last week and tells me that he can get a good deal on 2 cows and 2 horses. Now he knows how excited I will get when it comes to animals, I have been wanting to put either a cow or horse out in the field with the donkeys for some time now. I am all excited and then he hits me with the news.. "we can name one Rib Eye and the other T-bone" I am not too sure how I feel about this.... It took all I had inside of me to cook some of the meat that we got from having someone else's cow butchered. I was first going to try it in spaghetti sauce and I was ready to use it and I literally opened the package and then I ran from it - not sure why, it was like I was afraid of it! Anyway, I worked out my fear of "real" cow meat and I am very glad I did because it really is better and you can tell a big difference. Now the question is can I help raise a cow and then send it off and then put it in my freezer to eat??? I don't know... I am a girl who cries at every Disney movie that involves an animal... just last week I cried at the end of the movie Bolt. I will let you know what happens....

Practice what You Preach

The past 2 weeks I have been able to spend extra time with the older generation. I really enjoy this time because if you listen you will learn. However, this time I discovered something that I want to change Immediately! I remember as a kid sitting around and listening to the grandparents and friends of the grandparents talk about all of their ailments, all of their aches and pains and thinking to myself... good grief... give me a break .... will you people just stop already!! Here I am 41 and I found myself complaining about my aching back and my bum knee and the arthritis in my hands! It must Stop.

I have done pretty good at dropping some weight but I have done it without the exercise and I really have not been eating that good. I feed the girls good but I tend to sneak too much junk in my own diet and I am a major slacker when it comes to exercise. I am NOT lazy at all... I never sit around when I am at home, I am constantly working, cleaning, doing laundry, mowing grass, weed eating, playing with the girls, etc,... I need to take the time and dedicate it to ME. I need to rejuvenate and get myself back into shape so that I can be a better Me. I am always talking about my "glory days" with sports and yet I bet I could not run a mile with out collapsing to my death. Practice what You preach Tammy!

I plan on doing this by going Organic and really looking at what we as a family are putting into our bodies. Jeff has got us going in the right direction, we had a cow butchered so we know that our meat is good and I plan on having my large garden back again this year. Will we still eat at Mcdonalds?? Yes, but it will be on "special" and rare occasions. I am not going to be "over the top" with this but I am going to make a big difference in this families overall health. Wish me luck!


The Elliptical that sits in our garage is used more by Abby. On a funny note... I took this picture last week... I was just finishing up mowing the front yard and the girls had been playing and got really dirty. I told them to take their shoes off and wait for me by the door. I put the tractor up and walk into the garage to find this.... =)

What a Busy 5 days I have had!!! I am just physically and mentally tired! It started by me finding out at the very last minute that Abby was having an Easter party at school and I needed to bring in some candy filled eggs... When I found this out all the stores in town were closed, how bad am I for filling the eggs with Valentine candy???

Friday was a very Big day for Abby and Mommy... we registered her for Kindergarten. I guess I did not know what to expect or maybe I did not think I would have any emotions over this moment (I thought I was ready) but I was wrong. As soon as I walked her through the doors of the school it just hit me in the face HARD... Abigail is one of the sweetest and most honest little girls you could ever meet. Not one mean bone in her body. What hit me hard was the fact that there was going to be outside influences on Our little girl... good and Bad. I wasn't in the school 5 minutes until someone I didn't know took her by the hand and took her away from me for testing. BROKE MY HEART!

I am not an overly religious person, I believe in God and I trust in his word. The only thing that will keep me from going crazy is knowing that God made Abigail and he will protect her when she is away from Mommy and Daddy. Ohh.... she got her first 100% on her testing! Hopefully that will continue =)

For the first time ever the weather was nice enough for an Easter Egg Hunt Outside on Easter morning. So much Fun!