Carb Day '09

David and I just got home from Carb Day! Sounds like a day of gorging on pasta and bread, but Carb Day (short for Carburetion Day) is actually the final practice session before the infamous Indy 500. According to one Web site, “the name originally came from the fact that it was the final session where teams could tune their carburetors in conditions similar to those that may be encountered on race day. The name has remained despite the fact that no qualified car has used a carburetor since 1963.”

Anyway, David’s work closed the office at 9:30 a.m. and invited everyone to the track. Carb Day is a HUGE event in Indy. The weather was perfect: partly cloudy and in the 80s. Although I know nothing about IndyCar racing (nor do I really care), it was a great day just to hang out with people in the nice weather. The practice session was pretty boring, but there was a 100-mile race with other drivers that was really exciting. Here are some pictures from the day.

Helio Castraneves' car after the Pit Stop challenge

Helio Castraneves in his car after winning the Pit Stop challenge.

I don't know what this was, but it creeped me out. I'm thinking it's some kind of race mascot or something.

Don't know who this is, but considering I actually got a shot of a car while it was going around the track is pretty darn amazing. This was during the practice session.

See the girl in the orange jumpsuit in the middle? That's Danica Patrick!

Posing at the Speedway.

We saw this guy on our way to our car. He was taking one of his pet snakes for a bike ride. Weirdo. Thought this would freak my mom out. hehe

Another Wedding

Yesterday was another great wedding for a fellow Phi Psi. Seems they're dropping like flies. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful wedding. I think almost half of the guests were Phi Psis, so it was really great to see everyone and catch up with some folks we haven't seen in a while. Here are some pictures from the night.

Kirk shows off his electric slide.


David and I show off our dance moves.



Holly, Lindsay, and me.

Me and my favorite brother-in-law.

I just realized that the Stelsel brothers dressed alike. ha!

Me and Lindsay.

The bride and groom: Danny and Emily.

Cheeeeeeeese.

Russell and Lindsay.

What a Great Week

I’m on cloud nine. I just returned from a great trip to KY to visit the family. I had a great Mother/Daughter shopping trip with my Mom on Monday. Then Monday night we went to Jackson’s year-end kindergarten production. Jackson was a rapping weed. He had a solo part, and he did fabulous. I was a proud aunt.



Tuesday was the Daddy/Daughter fishing trip. We left the house at 4:30 a.m. and spent 7 hours on Kentucky Lake, in which time we caught about a dozen fish and I caught one rad sunburn. Apparently I did okay on the sunscreen application everywhere except my nose. I make quite a stunning Rudolph at the moment. Wednesday was a lazy day. The most exciting thing that day was when Chase rolled in the freshly mown lawn and turned green. So now he’s my little Irish dog.



I got back home this afternoon to some great news! A freelance article I submitted in February to a local wedding magazine is going to be published in the June issue!! The editor also asked me to write a last-minute story for the same issue on Indy car driver Ed Carpenter and his wife. I couldn’t be more thrilled! Also, I have an interview next week at an ad agency, and although it may not come to anything, it feels great to finally have an interview. All in all, things are starting to look up.

A Doggy Rant

So it turns out I have a TV sickness. Call it doggy OCD. Call it an obsession. Call it whatever you want. But the fact of the matter is I think it's a disease and it's out of my control. I don't know when it started exactly, but it's progressively getting worse. When I was a young pup I liked to watch Animal Planet and dog shows. Then I started watching sports with Dad. And then I started watching Days of Our Lives at lunch with Mom, and bad horror movies on the weekends with Mom, and reality TV in the bedroom with Mom while Dad studied. So if anyone is to blame for this obsessive behavior with the TV, it's them!



But now it's gotten so bad that even when the TV is off I can't help but sit in front of it. Then I start whining and that's when they scold me. And even when I'm asleep in the other room, if I hear the TV turn on, I'll run in and plop down and watch. And even when I'm in the middle of eating, if I hear the TV turn on, same thing. It's like it calls me or something. So now my parents are really concerned, and they've decided to start punishing me in cruel and unusual ways. Just the other day they tied a cape around me that covered my ears. Did they really think that would keep me from being able to hear the click of the TV when he turned it on? Nooooo.



And the time they wrapped me up in a blanket and turned me around so I couldn’t see the TV, do you think I wasn’t smart enough to wiggle out and turn around? Nooooo.



What’s with these people?! I just don’t see what the big deal is. But they are way bigger than me, so I have to do what they say. So for now I have to sit back away from the TV (although between you and me, I always manage to sneak my way up front again). What can I say? TV just makes me happy. I can't explain it. But then, I'm just a dog.