Fair

Wednesday was fair day at our house.  Rick races, it is free to get in, rides are $1, so all combined, it gives us lots of reasons to go.

WE packed our car with friends and Jeni and Jason filled their car and off we went.  

We have a tradition of ALWAYS starting the fair by taking a picture with the cows.  Everyone was bucking and fussing about it in my car.  I called Jeni and reminded her to meet us at the cows first and she started fussing.  Then, Jason, the hero of the day got on the phone with me and said,”Don’t worry Mrs. Johnson, we will be there at the cows.”  What a guy.  You will notice that some of the faces in the pictures don’t look all that thrilled, but it’s the tradition that counts!

Then off to the rides, wow, do we have crazy girls!  They all went on the wildest rides, even Melody headed onto some spinning rides.  Of course, the best was the tilt-o-whirl which we did numerous times.

We headed to the annual smorgesbord of buttered corn, pizza, buckets of french fries and cheese curds, Thunderhill burgers and nachos.  Believe me, it was NOT the rides that had everyone feeling sick when we left.  Oh well, it’s the fair!

Due to a torrential down-pour we had to wait an hour and a half for the races to start while they used County graders to scrape the track.  We played cards and talked and did a few more rides until they gave us the go ahead to enter the grandstand.  

Jason reminded me about the quarters and he came prepared, what a guy!   We have always played a little game at the track, basically to keep our attention while we wait for friends or Rick to race.  It is a form, um, well, errr, um,, well,  kind of like betting!!!  I know, I know, it sounds SO much worse than it is.   As the cars enter the track everyone stands up and picks their car and the shouting begins.  Melody has a book that she brings and I use to write down each person’s number.  It really makes it fun to cheer on your car or take lot’s of kidding when yours starts to smoke or spins out.  It is low winnings as I have never won more than $3, but boy do we have fun.

There was a nice gentleman and his son sitting in front of us and he enjoyed our antics.  When I saw Rick’s heat lined up I leaned forward and told him “Sir, my husband races in the next heat and we all cheer for him, but he has five daughters who are VERY loud in their support of their father, I just don’t want you knocked out of your seat!”  He laughed and asked if it was the fisherman so he must know Rick some how.  Rick did OK, but there were big-dog racers in from all over the state to compete for the $1,000 dollar purse and they just roared around the track, literally taking my breath away with their speed.

We had brought some first timers with us and it was  fun to see their excitement at the roar of the engines and the excitement of dirt track racing.

We headed out of the track at 11:00 but due to still having a few tickets left, we did a few more rides and then headed home. I have been known to like to close down the party!  It was late when we got home, but other then missing our traditional cotton candy and funnel cake, it was a VERY good year!

One of the most precious moments of the day was running into A and B our foster boys from this winter.  They recognized us and smiled, although they were shy.  They were with their parents and I spoke to the dad for just a moment emphasizing to him how precious these boys are and how valuable their worth.  Although it was just a moment, it did my heart good to see them.

The guys at the track, Andrew, Lyle, Greg and Sam

Of course he goes by in a blur, it’s racing silly! He is in the yellow car.

These are our girls riding in the Pace Truck with Mandy

This is Sammy, our local Viking, at the race track watching Uncle Rick

Hot Humid, shopping, Brett Favre and a good joke!

We are celebrating the accomplishment of another T/L arrival at their big house.  It is a scramble but always comes together.   We did have an issue with a sink that was supposed to be installed and did not fit.  Rick was trying so hard to figure out with the plumbers what to do.  The plumbers left and I went into the laundry room to give a few of my ideas to him………..  you know, always wanting to be blessing!  I showed him my idea and when he yelled for our daughters to find some work for me to do I took the hint  :(.  Another  last minute glitch was Rick noticing that their chimney cap was bent and looking rather broken.  The chimney man could not come until today and when he finished the job he spoke to Rick and said that it appears to him that a raccoon did the damage.  Yikes, what a mess raccoons make when they get into a house.  We were glad that the raccoon must have given up on trying to get into the chimney.  Last year it was a bat infestation, I wonder what next year will bring!

Yesterday I took a trip to Green Bay with my friend Susan.  She is an expert shopper and a gourmet cook so I wanted to shop with her to glean her wisdom.  She actually does quite a bit of shopping at SAMS so off we went.  We left at 7:00 a.m., and I had not had enough coffee!  

Susan is retired and so she has more time to enjoy the perks of living in DC.  She took me on quite the trip as she does not use the West highway -42 neither the East highway – 57 but does a well learned zig-zagging assortment of back roads down the middle of the county to avoid tourist traffic.  At first I was a little confused at how this would save time, but, it did not take longer, and I got so see parts of DC that I have never seen, and they were beautiful.  

I had not been to SAMS for a couple years and I was delighted to see the prices were a great savings compared to what we pay in DC.  Since I was alone, I took the time to think and check every price and follow my list and master pantry guide.  I was thinking to myself how nice it was to be all by myself doing the shopping, and then I checked out.   Looking at the towering cart filled with groceries and trying to carry the boxes to pack everything into reminded WHY I always am glad the girls are along………  I was sweating in the hot and humid Green Bay sunshine as I loaded Susan’s car with my purchases.  By the time we loaded her things the Toyota was bursting at the seams!  

It was a good day and a wonderful chance to get to know Susan better as she is a very interesting lady.

Today I cleaned some of my house, did some bookwork, put away some laundry in our room and realized I did not do any laundry this week for Rick and I.  I will get our laundry started early tomorrow and on the line so it is dry before we head to the races.  I also took Melody and Sam to the library this morning.  Sam is starting to enjoy my reading books to him more and more.

I have supper going on the stove – corn beef.  I will add veggies in a little bit before we head to our neighbor’s pool so when we get back it will be ready to eat.  Yum.

We are all excited to watch the first episode of Monk tonight. It is reported that he ( the main actor) is in town right now as he and his family usually come this time of the summer.

Brett Favre –  We had a heated discussion about the Packers and Brett Favre on Tuesday night at the supper table.  I guess I should not say WE as I  was not allowed to get a comment in at all because one is not deemed sports minded in our home unless you watch ALL four quarters of EVERY Packer game and can name more than 5 players.  Ok, so I am not completely qualified,but I still hear what my husband is saying to other men on the phone and I like to throw his opinions around with an authorative tone to anyone willing to listen.  You should have heard me telling my sweet friend (who is a Chicago Bear’s fan, but we love her anyway!) the scoop on what’s happening  Anyway…….

Rick and Jeni were not seeing eye to eye on Brett’s behavior.  Jeni is a diehard Brett fan and would not hear one negative comment from her father about Brett’s decision.  She feel he was pressured, almost bullied into retirement by the coaching staff, oh pleeeeeeaaaaaazzzzzeeeee!

 (but what do I know?)

  Brett Favre has fallen from grace in Rick’s eyes and boy does he have the facts to tell you about it.  I have a feeling it is going to be a tense football season this year with it starting off so messy.   I will let you know if father and daughter can reconcile on this catastophe  in Packer football.

Here is the joke, it is a good one,  enjoy!

I just heard an old joke about the horse of many names. A flatlander drives off the road and his car gets stuck in a ditch. Along comes a farmer with a workhorse and he is asked for help. He hitches the horse up to the car and yells, “Pull Tiffany!” The horse doesn’t move an inch. Then he yells, “Pull Montana!” The horse barely stirs. Then he yells, “Pull Dixie!” The horse stands at attention. Then the farmer yells out, “Pull Morgan!” and the horse steps right up in the harness and pulls the car easily out of the ditch. The flatlander looks in amazement and asks, “Couldn’t you remember the name of your own horse?” The farmer smiles and says, “Well, that’s not how it is. He’s blind and I didn’t want him to think that he would have to do all that pullin’ on his own!”

One more thing…..  Mandy’s car dealership is supporting the races tomorrow night and she is driving the PACE car!   We are so excited to see her driving some sweet little ride around the track.  it is a big deal for our family……..  we are small town hicks aren’t we?  Wouldn’t have it any other way.  

Love it  :)

Blessed

Joyce

Racing fun

Lyle and Sammy