"One More Race This Season - October 22, 2007"

Well, we made it to South Georgia and back, safe and sound. Bobby and Becca both got to go and we had a wonderful time. Bobby worked with Justin Wakefield to learn how to spot for Dusty, just in case he ever needs a backup spotter. Becca and I taught Justin's wife, Jennifer, to score and she did a great job. Becca scored for Chase Pistone and Jennifer scored for Jeff Fultz. The race was pretty exciting. Dusty had problems getting the car set up and had to get into the race on a provisional - causing him to have to start 35th. He ended up having a great race and finished 13th. Because of that he was awarded the Hard Charger award for the race, so not a bad night overall....

We have one more race in Lakeland, FL in two weeks and then will be off for several months. I'll miss it, but it will give me time to rest up for next season and regroup. Then off we go again, and I'll be a happy happy camper!!!

"Cecil Race at South Georgia Motorsports Park - Oct. 16, 2007"

Well, this weekend we are off to the South Georgia Motorsports Park in Cecil, GA which is near Valdosta for the Hooter's all pro race. Becca and I will leave sometime Friday morning after I sleep for a few hours (I have to work 6 PM to 6 AM Thursday night).

I'll be cooking for a larger group than usual because a lot of Dusty's family and friends from the Savannah area will come over for this race. It'll be lots of fun and this is a really nice track.

I'm kind of sad because this is the next to the last race of the season and then we have a break of several months before we start back up. Guess it's a good thing though, I need to build my vacation time back up!

Have a great week and remember that I love you all!

"Thanks Will!! - October 9, 2007"

P. S. to my Talladega blog :




Thanks Will !

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. . . . . . Well, I guess you get the point - I appreciate it more than you will ever know (even though I might tell you a hundred times, it will still not be enough to tell you how much I truly appreciate you and all you've done for me! I love you and will feed you for the rest of my life - Ha Ha!)

And for those of you who don't know - Will is the one who is responsible for me getting to hang out and help out with Ken Schrader's team. He is a great friend and our whole family just adores him.

We love you Will and THANKS SO MUCH!!!

"Talledega! - October 6, 2007"

Oh my goodness!!!! I had an absolutely awesome time at the races this weekend. The guys on the team are so much fun and soooooo sweet. I just love being around them.

I got an extra special treat this weekend - I got to score for the team and it was so neat! And to top it all off I got paid for it! I wanted to do it for free just because they let me come and hang out, but Brian insisted on paying me. I got my cake and got to eat it too!!

On Thursday, Kenny Schrader came over and hung out with us for a while. I was standing outside by the car taking some pictures when Kenny came out of the hauler and walked over to me. He leaned over and asked me "just how dark is our locker room?" and then turned around and walked back to the hauler. After I quit screaming and laughing - I realized that most everybody on the team was in on the joke and was laughing right along with me.

Somebody told Kenny this story (which is actually true): After the Sonoma race, I got back to the shop around midnight and went in to take a shower. I had just gotten lathered up good and had started washing my hair when the lights went out (no one knew they were on a timer). So I stood there in the dark, laughing at myself, taking my shower and trying to figure out what I was going to do (there were several walls and turns to get back to the light switch). When the team came in the next morning, everyone got a big kick out of the story.

Well, Kenny being the jokester that he is thought it would be funny to ask me about it. Kenny came back over after I quit laughing and we had a good laugh out of it! He is such a sweet person and really nice.

Got to get up close and take picutures of lots of drivers and such and you know how I love that!

Sometimes I have to pinch myself because God has been so good to me - I may not be famous or rich, but I am one of the luckiest and most blessed people on the planet and I will be forever grateful for all that God has given to me.

Always remember that I love you all.

"Heading to Talledega! - October 2, 2007"

Woooooo Hoooooo!! I'm heading to Talledega on Thursday to hang out and help cook for Ken Schrader's ARCA car team. I'll get to see all of the guys that I went to California with in June and I'm really excited! I loved going to the race in Sonoma with these guys and I know that this weekend will be just as much fun. I can't wait....

Becca will be heading to Myrtle Beach to work with Dusty's team - I hate that I'll miss being with them, but I'm gonna love being at Talledega and I'll get to see them at the South Georgia race and the Lakeland race later on this month.

This weekend, the ARCA cars race on Friday, the Craftsman Trucks on Saturday and the Cup cars on Sunday. It's going to be like hunting on a baited field! I know I'll have some great pictures after this weekend!

I have to work tonight and then sleep for a little while in the morning. Most of the rest of the day will be spent doing my prep work for the food I'm cooking and I'm also making food for Becca to take to Myrtle Beach.

I'll have handbells and choir at church tomorrow night, will come home and sleep just a little and then get up about 4:30 Thursday morning and head out for Talledega. I'll hook up with the guys at the hotel in Anniston and then off to the track to get our credentials and set up.

I am sooooooo LUCKY and BLESSED - how many people get to live their dreams like I do ? - God has been so good to me and I praise him for all he's done in my life and the blessings he has given to me. How AWESOME he is!!

I love you all and hope you have a great weekend too!

"We're Back From Iowa! - Sept. 24, 2007"

Oh my goodness - what a wonderful time we had! We got back in last night about 1:00 AM after leaving Iowa at 9:30 yesterday morning. Becca and I shared the driving going up and coming back.

We got into Newton at about 10:30 their time on Thursday night and met up with Dusty and the gang at the hotel. Friday morning started early - we had to be at the track at around 8:00 to get our credentials. Friday the team struggled with getting the car set up - it was a brand new car - so they had to start from the bottom up.

Friday night there was a "Fan-Fair" for the race fans to visit the infield, tour the garage and haulers and to meet the teams and drivers. It was pretty fun - I passed out cards and talked to the fans while the team was doing the last minute things that needed to be done to the car. Becca helped put the decals on during that time.

Saturday, we had to be at the track at 7:00 AM to get started and to get the car through tech. The spoiler was too wide and we were missing the taillight decals so we didn't pass the first time through tech. I told Dusty that he needed the taillight decals so that the other drivers would be able to tell when he hit the brakes - after all we were expecting the rest of the field to be behind him!

Unfortunately, we didn't qualify too well - we were 30th, but at least we made the field - there were 4 guys that didn't.

There was a concert by country singer Craig Morgan later in the afternoon and a driver autograph session at the same time. It was great - I thought I wouldn't get to see the concert and it turned out that we were right there with it! We had a ball with the drivers and were all rocking out to the concert.

Becca and I both scored the race - Becca for the 52 car of Kirk Leone and me for Dusty. We had a great view of the track.

Dusty's car was really fast and he managed to make it up to 7th by lap 111 but then the alternator went out. What they didn't realize at the time was that it was draining the battery and on lap 159 the car went dead just as Dusty passed the entrance to pit road. Unfortunately he didn't have enough power to make it back to the pits and stopped halfway down the back stretch and had to be pushed back to the pits. We lost 5 laps and were never able to recover them. It was a real shame too, because he had at least a top 5 car and was consistently passing cars the whole time he was racing. His lap times were faster than the 2nd place car, so I know he would have done well.

We still had a great time and just love working with this team - they are awesome folks and such a joy to be around.

I won't get to go to the Myrtle Beach race because I have to work that weekend, but Becca is planning on going. I hope to get to go to the next two after that though.

"Becca's Coming Home! - Sept. 17, 2007"

Well, the last 24 hours have been interesting. Becca called me yesterday, very upset that all was not well with her boyfriend Chaz. We talked and to make a long story short, she asked if she could come back home. I must admit that I have been praying for this for many months, so ~ thank you, Jesus ~.

We still have a ways to go, but this is a major start and I'm thankful for it!

Some of the dispatchers and officers that I work with usually get together for breakfast on the last morning of our rotation when we get off. This morning Becca joined us and we had a nice breakfast together (along with 5 others). It was a little early for her (we get off at 6:00 AM) so I'm glad she made the effort to come eat with us. It was lots of fun.

She left breakfast this morning to go back to Chaz's house to get her stuff and that's where she is now. I'm headed to get some sleep - It's been 26 hours since I slept last and I'm beat.

Remember that I love you . . . . Jo

"The Iowa Race is Coming Up - Sept. 14, 2007"

I'm getting so excited - by this time next week Becca and I will be in Newton, Iowa at the new speedway that was built by Rusty Wallace. The Hooters team that I cook for and score for will be racing there on Saturday. Becca helps Dusty during the autograph sessions and then scores for whatever driver needs a scorer.

We will leave on Thursday as soon as Becca gets off of work and drive straight through. It will take us about 16-18 hours (including stopping for gas and to eat) of driving but it's always worth it. Up to now, the Mansfield, Ohio track was the furthest that we have gone to get to a race. We'll be driving about a thousand miles to get to the Iowa track.

I have always loved driving - it gives me some good quality quiet time and that gives me the time I need to talk to God and "do some splaining" about the things I need to get forgiven for. Mostly they're little things, but I still need to ask for the forgiveness.

It has also helped to bring Becca and I back together. She moved out last November and our relationship was really really strained for a long time. I wasn't happy with her (and I'm still not crazy about what she is doing) but going to the races together has given us a chance to get back on the right track to getting close again. After all, when you spend 16 hours in a pickup truck alone together, you have to get along with each other.

Well, I have to go walk on my treadmill and then get ready for work. It's supposed to storm tonight and that means that it will be an insane night at work. Just another fun Friday night in D'ville....

Love you all (even if you're reading this and I don't even know you!)

"Those You Touch - September 12, 2007"

Everything you do touches someone in some way - some in good ways, some bad and some in ways that you will never know. Your smile, a frown, the comments you make, the things you don't say when you should, a touch, a hug, a kiss on the cheek, little things you do that no one ever knows about, things you do that you shouldn't that everyone finds out about . . . . They all affect those people around you.

Remember the old saying "What goes around comes around"? The older I get the more I find that this is sooooo true!

What brought all this on was a message I got yesterday from a sweet, beautiful young lady that I have known since she was a small child. She went to church with us and moved away many years ago, but would come back to visit often. She never failed to talk to me and give me a big hug when she'd come back which always made me feel wonderful. I always wondered what I did to deserve such kindness, but you know what - it doesn't really matter. What matters is that I did it. And everytime she remembers me with the hugs, smiles or messages, it is like a little reward from God telling me that I did a good job.

Remember those around you who have touched your life and tell them you appreciate it while you still can.

Thank you sweetheart - you know who you are! I Love You.



Making Amends.....

I seem to have had a horrible time keeping up with this blog.  I was so gung ho at first but then life got in the way and I seemed to have less and less spare time to work on a blog.  I recently had the bright idea to post some of my old blogs from my “MySpace” page.   So for a while, some of my posts will be reposts of the older ones.   I hope you enjoy them!

"How Lucky I Am - Sept. 10, 2007"

It's really amazing when you think about it.... all the little things in life seem so trivial but then you look at all of them over time and life is sooooo good. I have been so lucky in my life, God has been so good to me. I have done things that some people only dream of doing and never get the opportunity to do.

I try to be a good person and to do the things that Jesus would have me to do and I know that sometimes I fall short but that's when he seems to pick me up and dust me off and then he says "well done, my good and faithful servant" and then it's all worth it.

I must have done something right because the good things have come back to me 100 fold in ways that I never dreamed possible. If I died today, I could not complain because of all the awesome things I've gotten to do, the opportunities I've had and the wonderful friends and family that I love so much......

I'm feeling a little nostalgic - just got through looking at some old racing pictures to send to a friend and it made me realize just how lucky I really am. I hope that if you are reading this, you will realize just how lucky you are - no matter what comes your way - because there is always someone who loves you no matter what happens and will always accept you whatever comes. Enjoy life and be grateful for what comes your way, even the trivial little things, because they add up to the big things in the end. Love you all with all my heart.