It's Over

Well, it's finally over. Speedweeks 2007 has come to an end, and I am just beginning to recover physically. After two weeks straight of 10-16 hour days, I am ready for a frickin weekend.

But, oh, wait... I have to move out of my house.

Yep, it's true. Since my roommate left me in January, I have been dreading the task of packing up all my stuff AGAIN (the 5th time in 2 years) and shipping to a different part of town. I am getting pretty sick of doing this, but circumstances have forced me to move so many times. It's really expensive to live in Florida, so whenever you find an opportunity that looks like it will be cheaper, you grab it.

Although this time, it will be way NOT cheaper. This will be the most rent I have paid EVER, and only the second largest apartment I have lived in in my history. Probably about the size of a double dorm room. Wow. That is sad.

I will be paying about 100 bucks more than what Shoo and Kyle paid for an entire TOWNHOUSE in Springfield. Sigh...

It's the price I pay for sunshine and the beach (as well as flights home, large cell phone bills, extreme electric bills for air conditioning and I STILL pay a fee to get on the beach). I am getting sick of paying for it too. Everything about living here is expensive. Thank God for tax returns.

Although... I guess it was all my money to begin with.

24 Hours of the Rolex 24

January 27th 7:00am - Robbie crosses the Finish Line of the Daytona 5k Run... His time was 27:03. Pretty amazing if you ask me

8:30 am - We begin setting up for the Daytona Chili Cook-off. This event is my baby.

January 27th 12 noon - Cooking begins. The smells were amazing. 20 different groups of people cooking chili at the same time. HOG HEAVEN!

1:00pm - Betsy uses her decorating skills acquired in college to trick out the Busch Series Garage like a REAL chili competition!

2:30pm - The Strolling Dixieland Band arrives to rock the house. This is part of my creative event-planning prowess. Can you think of a style of music you'd RATHER listen to while eating chili? (Alright, the bluegrass band I wanted was already booked, but this was the CLEAR second choice)

5:00pm - The Chili Teams deliver their samples for the distinguished judges to sample. There are cash prizes on the line, so the competition is fierce!

5:30pm - After the ballots are counted, the awards ceremony commences, and the winner of the 2007 Daytona Chili Cook-off is awarded with one of these SWEET trophies.

7:00 pm - The screening of Stroker Ace begins, and we hand out mustaches to the fans of this Burt Reynolds classic.

7:30pm - The staff of Daytona International Speedway, already past the 14-hour mark, gets ahold of the mustaches, and hilarity ensues.

8:00pm - The brilliant fireworks show over the speedway. (Remember, there's a 24 hour road race going on during all these festivities too!)

9:00pm - The Pontiac Garage Concert featuring some band I never heard of called Louis the 14th or something. They were pretty good, but to be honest, at that point in the evening, it could've been Air Supply and I would've tapped my foot.

12:00 midnight - We begin handing out "supplies" for the screening of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. By this point, I just want the race fans to get out of my face. The wind has picked up to about 30 miles an hour, and the newspapers & squirt guns are blowing all over property.

January 28th - 1:30am - I head for home for a few hours sleep, only to return to the track in a short time.

8:00am - I return to the Speedway just in time to meet my entertainment group for the day. THE INFINITY DRUMLINE! Yes, dudes in marching band uniforms performing drum battles in the NEXTEL FANZONE.

I am awesome.

12:00 noon - I made the mistake of getting fries from the infield Checkers trailer. Indigestion here I come.

1:30pm - Race ends... I stood around taking up space in Victory Lane, and was delighted to see the confetti cannon go off right in front of my face.

2:30pm - We hop on golf carts and fly around the track to the Superstretch. It's a race against time to get freakin BANNERS down off the safety fence before the jet-engine track dryer gets there.

3:00 pm- It's finally over. I head back to the house to crash for a nap. Another Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona in the BAG!

Snappy

I told you he's becoming a snappy dresser.

Maybe it's just the jacket...