Rest in Peace, Chuck Amati

Rich Edwards sent out an e-mail this morning with the sad announcement of the passing of local racing legend, Chuck Amati. The "One Armed Bandit" passed away on Tuesday.

Rich included some great photos and a scan of an old postcard in his note. I have a different postcard of Chuck under the glass of my desktop. I scanned the front and back and will include them in this post.

Godspeed, Chuck. You will be missed!

Everything Else Seems So Small

A week ago today I was grieving the outcome of our elections, stressing about the economy, looking toward a busy weekend highlighted by a big dance for my son. The world, and my concerns, seemed huge.

Today my world has shrunk down to just my livingroom and my kitchen. For the past several days, I have left the house only to run a couple of very quick errands. Today we are engaged in my daughter's difficult fight against mono. This is day 11.

She was sick for several days before seeing a campus doctor last Thursday. Her diagnosis was a virus that would just have to run its course. Three days later, she was much worse so I took her to an urgent care facility where the actual diagnosis of mono was made.

Our days since then have become a blur as I sit here in my recliner working while I listen to her breathing as she sleeps. Sometimes it is the quiet sleep, the kind that sounds relaxing, and other times, like right now, it sounds as if she works extremely hard just to get air into her lungs. Either way, it is good to know she is sleeping because rest is what her body so desperately needs.

The past two mornings she has gotten me out of bed early (4:15 and 2:45am) due to exruciating ear pain. Her tonsils and glands are so swollen that they press in on her ears and cause her to feel like she has the worst ear ache in history. We treat with drops, ibuprofen and the heating pad to get the slightest bit of relief.

My heart breaks at seeing my beautiful daughter brought down like this. I sit for hours listening to her breathe, praying for comfort and healing, praying that my son does not catch this because he is scheduled to march in the Chicago Thanksgiving Day Parade in two weeks.

This could be nearly over, or we could still be at the beginning of a very long road to full recovery. Only time will tell. Only God will bring us through. He is mighty and merciful and I trust Him for complete healing.

Thank you to everyone who is praying for our family. We truly appreciate it!

One, two, three, breeeaaaatthhhe

Ok, I've had a little time to calm down now, and the counsel of a great local on-air personality and another really good friend. Thanks Jamie Allman on 97.1 Talk FM in St. Louis for helping me to see that my attitude is not the legacy I want to pass on to my kids, and for sharing some really positive points that I hadn't even thought about.

My dear friend and sister-in-Christ, Stephanie helped to tilt my world more toward center when she emailed a photo of her cuddly puffball of a dog, Chloe. How can anyone stay mad at the world when you see a face like that? She also called and gave me some wonderful and Godly insights. Praise God for good friends and spiritual mentors. Thank you, Steph!

As I read through my earlier rants, I realize that they were born out of anger, and that I should have stopped and counted to ten (or maybe ten thousand) before I put my thoughts into print. While I still believe in the essence of what I wrote, I know now that I should probably have said it a bit differently. The words and the context really don't reflect my faith and are not the kind of legacy I want to pass on to my children. If I offended anyone, I apologize. Rants are rants, and should probably be left in my head most of the time.

So here I sit on an absolutely gorgeous fall day as the trees cling desperately to their leaves as the breeze does its best to tear them down. As beautiful as they are, those leaves have to be surrendered in order for new growth to take place. Kind of an analogy on our lives, isn't it? When we hang onto the things of this world, no matter how lovely they are, we fail to let God work in our lives. Sometimes He has to sweep away the good stuff with the bad stuff in order to reveal the nature of His wonderful plan.

Today I am thankful for one last beautiful day before winter sets in, for my job that allows me to sit here by this window and enjoy it, and for new beginnings, no matter how painful they sometimes are.

May God bless your day.

Rest in Peace, America!

When I awoke this morning and realized that last night's election results weren't just some horrific nightmare, there was such an overwhelming heaviness in my heart that I just couldn't handle it. This feels like September 11, 2001 all over again.

The predominant adjective in my vocabulary right now is betrayal. That's how I feel about the actions of just over 50% of this country. You have betrayed us in the deepest and most heinous of ways by choosing a man whose views are so far removed from those of our forefathers that it's hard to believe he can call himself an American citizen.

Thank you, God that folks in my county have some sense, and it looks as if our state still voted conservatively although it was unbelievably and inexcusably close.

Now, I'm not going to ruin my blog by going on and on about the elections because that's just not what the blog is about. As sad as I am today, as much as my heart breaks for my children's future, this just isn't the place to keep ranting over and over. I'm not a whiney liberal and I don't intend to become one.

With that in mind, I have to say that, despite the title of this entry, I refuse to give up hope. We endured the Carter and Clinton years, we will endure this as well because we are still Americans and deep down I have to believe that we still believe in what's good and right and true and when the rest of you wake up and decide to fight for it, we shall overcome.

As for me, I look forward to 2012. Sarah Palin all the way, baby!

P.S. At least there is ONE good thing about today: No election ads on tv and no more of those robo-calls. I think we can all agree that that is a very good thing. :)

The Stars Go Blue

As I sit here watching pandemonium break out as the Associated Press projects Barack Hussein Obama the next President of the United States, many thoughts are running through my head. I would have to say that most of them are running toward the negative, although I keep telling myself that God is still in control of my life, no matter what madman controls this country of ours.

Of course, in this moment, I'm just overwhelmed by feelings of sadness, depression, and extreme disappointment at my fellow Americans. Beyond that, I pity those who are so blind that they cannot see through this man in whom they have placed their trust. Unfortunately, it won't be just those who voted for "change" that will see change. That fate will befall our entire country.

Enjoy the next couple of months, brothers and sisters, because once the liberals take complete control of this country, as they have just done, life as you know it will change forever. It will probably happen in small steps, and you might not even recognize it as your freedoms are slowly stripped away, but one day you will wake up and wonder, as I do now, what country you live in.

What kind of country allows the slaughter of innocent unborn children, the union of two people of the same sex and the total turnover of its country's economy to foreign countries and foreigners living among us illegally? Not the America I know. Not the America our forefathers fought and died for.

Bitter? Yeah, you bet. Sour grapes? Sure. Call it whatever you want, as long as you don't call it racism because that is NOT what this about. Never has been and never will be. I would happily support a candidate of ANY color if they had values, integrity, experience and a positive plan for this country that does not involve socialist and marxist principles. Our projected President-elect has none of those characteristics or plans.

Wow. I just cannot believe so many people have been so incredibly duped. It should not be such a surprise, since the Bible says that in the end days, good will be seen as evil and evil, good. That's what happened in our country today. We handed our future over to the evil side on a red, white and blue platter.

It is a sad, sad day for our country. The scary thing is, it probably won't be long before I won't even have the freedom to write something like this.

Just one final thought before I get down on my knees and pray again for protection and guidance for our newly elected leaders: May God have mercy on our souls. We're going to need it.

God Bless You, Les Nessman

Yes, it's the off-season, and all of a sudden I am brimming with ideas for the blog. Go figure. Of course, they aren't really race-related, but hey, nobody's forcing you to read this.

My job requires that I work at home. Trust me, I'm not complaining about it either! With the way gas prices skyrocketed this year, I have never been more thankful for the fact. We live in a thre-bedroom house and have two children, so all the rooms are taken and there is no finished basement. Because I really, really wanted a space of my own, I embarked upon a job that took a lot of time and effort. I cleaned up about a 10 by 11 foot section of our walk-out and called it my office.

Because there are no walls dividing it from the rest of the basement, I have the washer and dryer a handy few steps away. (Bet you wish you could throw in a load of clothes on your break, huh?) In place of walls, I have several of those metal storage shelves, which don't go all the way to the ceiling, but they do the job.

For those of you who are of my generation, my office may seem a bit familiar. In fact, I often refer to it as my "Les Nessman" office, in honor of the character from the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati. Just for fun, I thought I would give you a tour. Here we go.


All of my work is done online, so that requires a computer. My computer of choice is a Dell Inspiron 6000 which has done a fine job so far. This is where the magic happens.


I have quite a few racing collectibles to brighten up my space. This is a GMP Sprint Car that rests among some of my favorite race-themed books, including two by Dave Argabright. The little Lego girl standing by the car usually holds a camera but my son "borrowed" it back.

Wooden blocks spell out my initials.

My space doubles as office and scrapbook/craft area. This is a basket of scrapbook supplies that are just begging to be used.

This is a sampling of my collection of diecast Cars from the movie Cars. That's a Sears NASCAR Craftsman Truck toolbox and the drawers contain the rest of my Cars collection. The picture of Tony Stewart is one of my favorite shots from last season.

This is my work area. I know it looks cluttered but in actuality, it's very organized and everything is accessable. There's a lot of fun stuff on the walls and the shelves and it all keeps me company while I work.

This is one of my favorite organizational tools for scrapbooking. Those are my kids' pictures on top.

I use every available space to display photos and collectibles. That's the heating duct and those photos are in magnetic acrylic frames. It just dawned on me one day that those ducts were metal and not aluminum so with a handful of magnets, I made an interesting collage of hats and photos.

This is my desktop. It is actually an old door that came out of my childhood bedroom. I had a piece of glass cut to cover the top of it, and the inset panels make a great place to display more racing stuff. The edges are filled with pit passes and I have lots of ticket stubs, stickers, postcards and other fun stuff. Yes, it makes my desktop busy, but I really love looking at all this stuff.

That's a quick tour of my office, which will hopefully be moving soon. I've been working in our basement for a while now, trying to go through all the stuff my kids have stored down here. Once I get a different corner cleared out, I will be moving over there. It will be nice to have a bit more space and to have my current space become a more usable family area.

Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Come out and Play!

Yesterday I previewed Brad Paisley's new CD, Play, which dropped today. As you might have guessed, I did manage to procure a copy, but it took me stops at two stores to get the job done. Wal-Mart had not yet received their shipment when I stopped in, so I headed to Target. The first thing I saw was a stack of rain checks, and my heart immediately sank. Then I took another look and saw at least a dozen copies of the CD sitting next to the rain checks. Hmmmm...


Anyway, I made my purchase and put it in my MP3 player to give it a listen. I have to say that this particular CD is even better than I expected. As someone who has all of the previous releases by Brad, I realize that he has a formula that he sticks to, and this CD is the first to really depart from that formula. Yes, it is still full of a great mix of fun songs and ballads, as well as his take on a classic hymn, but that's pretty much where it stops. Usually Brad's CDs contain one beautiful instrumental, but this one is a majority of instrumentals and it is absolutely wonderful.

Brad Paisley has to be one of the best guitar pickers ever, and his talent shines brightly on every selection. His comments on the liner notes begin with the words: "This album is my love affair with the guitar." That pretty much sums it up. For someone who is so passionate about his music, this album must have been an absolute delight to put together.

There are duets with Keith Urban, Steve Wariner, B.B. King and Buck Owens as well as a toe-tapping jam with some of the other greatest guitar players in history called Cluster Pluck. (You gotta love Brad's sense of humor when it comes to lyrics and titles!)

From his dedication to his wife on Kim and tribute to his son, Huckleberry Jam Brad strums it up on such delights as Departure, Turf's Up, Playing with Fire, Les is More (A tribute to guitar king Les Paul, I'm guessing) and my personal favorite, Cliffs of Rock City. The acoustic version of What a Friend We Have in Jesus is the most moving rendition I've ever heard.

There's not a clinker on this disc, so if you love music, especially guitar music, pick up Play. On sale now at Target for $11.98.

A Note About Liner Notes:

Yesterday I mentioned my interest in liner notes and I just have to say that it was lot easier to read them before my eyes got old and they shrunk the notes from album size to the size of a CD jewel case!

If you buy this CD, take time to read the liner notes. There are great comments in there about how the whole duet with the late Buck Owens came about, which unlikely character does the intro to one of the songs, and much more touching and ineresting stuff.

Enjoy!

Music Appreciation 101

Need a break from all the political talk? I know I do! One of the ways I get away from the craziness of the world is by listening to music. What kind of music depends on my mood at the time and the contents of my MP3 player are very diverse. I've got everything from country to contemporary Christian, classic rock to jazz. There is a song for everything and for everything there is a song.

Music is one of my great passions. As long as I have my tunes, I know I can get through the day. I download a song now and then, but I guess I could be considered a purist because most of the time I still buy CDs. Why? First, because by just downloading a favorite song or two, you miss out on all the rest of the album! There are gems hidden on CDs that people never hear because all they do is download the songs they hear on the radio. How sad is that?

Second, I've been a fan of liner notes since I bought my first Partridge Family album (titled, ironically, The Partridge Family Album) way back in the early seventies. Ok, now I've really dated myself! But seriously, I love liner notes! You just never know what you're going to find out about the members of a band, who they dedicate their songs to, and who even wrote the songs. I like looking up background singers because I have the uncanny ability to figure out who they are and it's fun to check and see if I'm right or not.

This week I've really splurged and bought myself two new CDs. It seems to happen that way, but usually not until after the CMA Awards. Those aren't until next week, so I'd better hide my debit card away now in order to avoid temptation! Of course, I'm not taking it out of my wallet until I buy Brad Paisley's new CD, Play, which drops tomorrow. I've never met a Brad Paisley CD that I didn't like, and this one sounds like another big hit. It is comprised of songs highlighted by Brad's brilliant guitar playing and features several duets.

The first radio release, Start a Band, is a duet with one of my other favorite artists, Keith Urban. B.B. King teams up with Brad on another song. Vote for Brad when you pick up this CD in stores on Election Day.

I mentioned two other CDs that I picked up this week. The first is Jimmy Wayne's new release, Do You Believe Me Now. Spring and I saw Jimmy in concert at Jinglefest 2006 and he really impressed me. I've seen the video for I Love You this Much many times on CMT and heard him tell his story on the Laura Ingraham Show. Jimmy is very talented and I have to say that this album really impressed me. The title song is a powerful ballad about lost love, and is beautifully done. When I listen to his vocals, Jimmy reminds me just a bit of seventies crooner David Gates of Bread fame, but with more depth and richness.

This CD is a nice collection of upbeat songs and ballads that showcase Jimmy's voice. I hope this is the one that will make him more of a household name. Other songs I particularly like: I Don't Come Here to Lose, Stay Gone and I'll Be That.

The other CD that found its way into my shopping cart is the latest release from Little Big Town called A Place to Land. Known for their harmonies on songs like Boondocks, this group caught my ear a while back, but I just hadn't gotten around to getting any of their CDs. After downloading a few tunes, I knew the time was coming.

When I found out that the expanded edition of A Place to Land had the live version of Life in a Northern Town, which features Sugarland and Jake Owens, I knew I had to grab this one.

What a treat this CD is! Full of lively songs and heartrending ballads, it seems like everyone in the group is featured on one song or another, and when they put their voices together, the harmonies are amazing. Every now and then, I catch a little Eagles influence in a line or a verse, and I have to smile.

One of the first songs to get radio play is Fine Line which is a very catchy tune. I'm With the Band is rapidly becoming another one of my favorites. No matter what mood you're in, there is something for you on this CD.

Those are my music preview/reviews for now. Tomorrow I will probably be focused on Brad Paisley's new CD, which I'm sure will be a fine diversion from all the political stuff that will surround us. I can't think of better timing for a much-anticipated release.

One more that I'm anxiously awaiting is American Idol winner David Cook's debut. The self-titled album drops on November 18. I heard the first single, Light On last week on the radio and my first impression was very positive. Saw him perform it on Saturday Night Live and was still impressed so we'll have to see what the rest of the CD holds. David was my pick on this, my first American Idol season, and I think he has a great voice. Hopefully, he won't disappoint.

Wake Me When It's Over

Yes, tomorrow is the big day. We finally get to go to the polls, stand in line and proudly cast our vote for the next President of the United States of America.

Do I look forward to this? Yes! It is not only a privilige but an important duty that every legal American over the age of 18 should take very seriously. We only get one shot every four years at determining who will lead this country, and baby, it's time!

As we approach this important day, I have been doing a lot of praying. Those prayers range from safety and security for the candidates, but also to every person going to the poles. No, this isn't Baghdad, but with as high as tempers are running, anything can happen on election day. I also pray that the outcome would be certain, that on Wednesday morning we will know without a doubt who will be our next President. I also pray that the outcome would be met peacefully, no matter which way the colors fall. Finally, I pray against fraud of any kind when it comes to those election ballots.

Won't it be nice when all of this is over and we no longer have to ignore the phone or the tv because we are just SO sick of all the electronic phone calls and nasty commercials? I know I will be glad to go back to regular programing and just typical phone solicitors wanting my money for charity. What a relief!
What I don't look forward to is the way I fear that this election will turn out.

One way or the other, approximately half of this country will wake up on Wednesday morning thrilled with the results and the other half will wake and wonder what happened. If things (miraculously) go differently than what the pollsters predict, we might be witness to mass suicide by the mainstream media. Their shock, should their chosen candidate be defeated, would be heard 'round the world! What an amazing sound that would be and I think it would be drowned out only by the collective sigh of relief expressed by those of us on the other side.

But I digress in my vivid imaginings.

Whatever happens tomorrow, when we wake up on Wednesday morning, some things will remain the same. The most important thing that will never, ever change is that God will still be in control. He's not pacing back and forth on the streets of gold wringing His hands with worry.

Secondly, we are still Americans and we still live in the greatest country in the history of the world. For a little while at least, we still have the freedoms guaranteed us by our Constitution. Of course, depending up on how this turns out, those could rapidly dry up and disappear.

I could start a long list here of proposed ideas and their consequences. Things like the "Fairness Doctrine" the "Freedom of Choice Act" and California's notoriously devious Proposition 8, but I'll let you look into those and make your own decisions about whether they are good or bad. You might also want to look up the definitions of socialism and marxism while you're at it. With the Robinhood mindset of one of the candidates, it might be good to be familiar with those terms.

One last thing to reflect on and then I'm going to get off my soapbox and leave this topic alone because I'm just as sick of it as you are. Take a good, hard look at the logo that the Democratic candidate is using. You'll notice the sun in a blue sky resting on the horizon over a red and white striped field. Patriotic, right? Think again and look at it this way: That sun is not rising on a new day of welcome change. That sun is setting on the values, ideals, morals and rights for which our forefathers fought and died.

This Presidential contest is not about race, sex or age. This is about who will do the best job of leading and protecting our country, not only from outsiders, but also from the evil within. Unfortunately, there are a large number of people who will cast a vote tomorrow that don't recognize evil when they look it in the eye.

Think before you vote.

Infatuation or Obsession?

Ask Spring and she will tell you, I am not what one would call a "fashion plate." My idea of dressing up is to wear my good jeans and a nice blouse. Not that I don't love girly clothes, because I really do. The frillier the better in my opinion. The problem is, I really don't have anywhere dressy to go and I just don't have the body type to show off the clothes. This doesn't bother me.

So we've established that I'm not a clothes horse. I'm also not into make up and manicures and all that jazz. Sure, I'd love the whole makeover experience, but let's face it, I work at home on the computer, so nails just get in the way and I don't get out much. Makeup is expensive and I've never been good at it and it just takes way too much time. Enough said.

Why would anyone care to know these things about me? Well, figuring that not too many people read this, I would have to say that they don't, but I wanted to preface the following with a little bit of background so you would understand just how weird my latest obsession is.

For some reason, I have started to notice shoes. Now I know, some women are way into shoes, but it's an infatuation that I've never understood until now. Granted, I've never figured out why one person needs twelve pairs of black shoes (high-heeled, mid-heeled, low-heeled, flats, patents, shinies, sling backs, open-toes, with a bow, with another ornamentation of some kind, and two others that I can't even imagine) but some women feel that they do. C'est la vie.

My interest is not in pumps of any height or color. My problem is sneakers. A specific kind of sneakers. My current love is Van's shoes.

It all started with a pair of black shoes with black and white checks. As a race girl, I thought they were the perfect expression of that part of my personality. I yearned for them, watched the sale ads and denied myself countless times. Until one day my husband and I were out shopping and I came across a pair of these shoes in the boys' department and just happened to try them on. As it turns out, a size 5 1/2 boy's shoe is roughly the same size as a woman's 6 1/2. The only catch is that they are about $10 cheaper. Always the bargain-hunter, I just couldn't pass them up.

I brought home my treasured purchase and got out my camera. These shoes were just begging to be photographed so I obliged. After their shoot, I sprayed them with Scotchguard. I wanted to keep them looking as nice as I could! These shoes were too nice to wear to a race track, so I wore them around the house at first, then out, but only on nice days. I stored them in their box and took them out only on special occasions.

After the checkered flag Van's, I found myself looking at other sneakers. See, after one indulgence, it becomes easier to talk yourself into a second. And I did. Another pair of Van's. They are black with pink polka-dots and oh-so-very comfortable. Of course, these were not found in the boys' section, but I still got them on sale at Kohl's, with a discount and a some Kohl's cash. They were very reasonable.

Again I sprayed them with Scotchguard and kept them in their box. They stay warm and dry and only come out on nice days.

Today was the day that I finally had to admit that my little infatuation may be getting out of hand. I had to take my son to buy a new pair of "Chucks" (Chuck Taylor Converse high tops) for the upcoming dance. Yes, it's a teenage fashion thing. Wouldn't you know it, but every shoe in the place was buy one get one half off and my son could only find one pair he wanted. He's such a boy! That left me in a quandry. No, the question wasn't "Should I buy shoes?" but "Which shoes should I buy?" That question was soon answered for me.

There on a bottom shelf were the last two boxes of white Van's with checkere flag stripes. Of course you can guess that one of them was my size. It was the one on display. Was it fate, an evil plan of Satan or something meant to be? Maybe I will never know, but it really doesn't matter. These new shoes feel great on my feet and they go with everything!

Yes, I guess it's true that the first step is admitting you have a problem. Is there a Sneakers Anonymous meeting anywhere in my neighborhood?