wittenlover

My pins were in my mailbox yesterday. Thanks, Brad! [emoji16][emoji106] (Still no expense check... [emoji35])

Still waiting on mine. Course I’m also still waiting on an expense check that should’ve been here a week ago... [emoji58]

Info sent! Woot! [emoji16][emoji16][emoji16]

Pass. Not spending $500 on a gaming console, especially with how little time I’d actually get to make use of it. Heck, I haven’t even been able to talk myself into a $300 Switch that I know I’d get more use out of. [emoji23]

I’m going to miss getting up far too early to go out and get... kitty litter! (Half hoping they still do that sale this year - I usually get a whole year’s worth in one shot...) I’m glad I still have my GD crowd here to hang out with. Wouldn’t be the same without all of you, for sure.

I still remember what a blessing it was that I was the lucky “big winner” last year. I was in a pretty tight spot financially and the gift card went a long way to help. While I definitely am not expecting to win anything this year, I definitely enjoy participating every year. Thanks for doing this, Brad! [emoji16][emoji106]

Made it to September. Survived the road trip to Daytona. Had a blast. Met some awesome kitties. Got fried. Yay FL sun. Totally worth it. PM will be headed your way soon, Brad! [emoji847]

I leave in less than 36 hours on my road trip down to best friend’s place in FL for the Daytona road course race this Sunday. Will be masked up, making minimal stops along the drive, and looking forward to seeing dear friends again, including our third amigo I’ll be meeting up with at roughly the halfway point in SC. May not quite be the race trip we all thought we’d get but we’re going to take advantage of the opportunity. As word has spread among our “track family” (pit crew/spotter buddies) that we will be at the track, we’ve gotten a lot of excited versions of “really?!?!?” from those that can reach us directly via social media/texting. Warms our hearts to know they’ve been missing us as much as we’ve been missing them. [emoji170][emoji170][emoji170] Saw one of our spotter buddies on Friday when the NASCAR crews were in town for the MIS double header. Stayed masked up/socially distanced, save for two brief moments: (1) when we exchanged a shirt (that I’d bought from him) for about 5 dozen fresh chocolate chip cookies (that he then took up the spotters’ stand to share) and (2) when I asked if I could grab a pic of his smiling face as a hello to the other two cookie girls (aka the gals I’m going to the race with this weekend). He stood back at an appropriate distance, then took his mask off for a hot sec so I could snap the picture. (And yes, he’s one of the guys who was excited to find out we’d be in Daytona. [emoji4])

We’re in 172, row 7. [emoji16] Will definitely be looking at that list. I know they were still working on finalizing it when I last checked. Good to know it’s at least up for us to look at. lol

Checking in for August and maybe we’ll see you there, riven3d??? One of my best friends lives close enough to do the same, so I’m taking a road trip down from MI, picking up our third amigo on my way through in SC, and we’re headed to the track. No hotels required - we’ll be crashing with her and her family, so exposure risks are minimal. We all decided it was worth taking the chance. Meanwhile, still mainly working from home here. That said, boss, coworker, and I literally pulled an all-nighter this past Monday (my “shift” was 21 hours from time I walked into office to time I walked out) to crank on a software reflash project that went from “oh as long as we finish half the units by the end of this week, we’ll be fine” to “by the way, the customer just told us they need them all by COB Wednesday” on Monday afternoon. (Not even kidding.) Caffeine was our friend and three of us was the right number to pull it off. Boss’s boss is now very pissed at the team that dumped this on us and will be giving the three of us a couple comp days each to make up for it. The best part of this past week, though, was lunch with my “little” brother on Monday (shortly before I found out we’d need to work all night). I hadn’t seen him face to face in at least 5 or 6 years. Bear hugs freely given, pandemic be d***ed. Selfie taken to show dad we did, in fact get together. Good, good, times... [emoji170][emoji170][emoji170] Hope all of my GDers are staying healthy. Much love to all as we keep navigating this crazy time we’re living in.

Agreed. Pretty much all the local-to-me pro displays have been cancelled. And I’m a pyro who’s not willing to risk losing her lease to buy some and fire them off in my complex (plus, with all the kids & doggos around me, I wouldn’t think of being that rude/reckless). Think I’m taking a chance, taking my mask, and heading to IRP (Indianapolis Raceway Park or, technically, Lucas Oil Raceway) to take in an ARCA race Friday night. It’s a small track and will only sell tickets up to 50% of capacity. I’m going through live racing withdrawals and I know a couple of the racers in it personally. I plan on doing a “down and back”, taking a nap break if needed on the way back, since the race doesn’t start till 8 pm and it’s about a 4 hour drive for me each way. Hope my GD fam has a safe & happy 4th weekend! [emoji4]

Got some awesome news this afternoon. A dear friend of mine who’s been working his tail off for the past several years for one of the restaurant chains in a bid to become a GM officially got that promotion today. I was among the first to get the news. So thrilled and proud, as I’ve been staunchly in his corner rooting for this all along because I know he can be great at it. He just needed the chance. I told him now it’s time to go knock their socks off and leave them wondering why they waited so long to promote him. [emoji16][emoji106]

Made it to June... A bittersweet month for me. 12th will mark 14 years since my mom passed. The 16th would have been her 70th birthday...No race at MIS (and associated time with my track family) to help distract me this year. In between those two dates, the mom to one of my nearest and dearest “track family” members celebrates her birthday (14th). She’s an awesome lady, so that’s something to look forward to. Bummed that all of the virus stuff has put the kibosh on a planned trip to Cedar Point with a fellow coaster-loving buddy that would’ve been happening later this week (his bday is this Friday - we were going to party it up screaming our heads off lol). We’re going to reschedule but obviously no idea when yet. On the positive side, while work from home isn’t ideal for me, I know I will not regret for even a moment all of the extra time I’ve gotten to spend with my precious kitties. At 12 and 7, neither is a kitten anymore and, while a pet parent always hopes we have many, many years with our furbabies, time sneaks by in a flash. As I write this, my girl (12) is curled up next to me for her afternoon nap. The boy (7) is on his “scratcha-lounger” a few feet away, also sleeping. [emoji170][emoji170][emoji170] The birds at my feeder also bring joy. Fun to see them enjoying the food I put out, more fun to shoot the squirrel that visits with my $0.50 water gun. Got him right in the butt one day. The look on his face as he whipped around and took off had me crying I was laughing so hard. [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23] I just wish I could’ve caught it on video to share!!! I hope and pray all are staying safe and healthy. Love my GDer family! [emoji4]

Anybody else having issues accessing the forums via the app right now? It all of a sudden started throwing errors over the weekend and signing out/attempting to sign back in is giving me “unauthorized app detected” errors... Hmmmm... That said, it’s a soggy one here today but I’m okay with that. We kinda need the rain. At least I got out on my bike for a while Saturday. Bought it last year when one of our local bike shops was closing and hoped I’d get to ride it but it sat for most of last year. (For those with bike knowledge/curiosity, it’s a 2017 model Marin San Anselmo. Scored it for less than half of retail.) With all this time at home these last couple months, I’ve finally gotten to get my “bike legs” back. Haven’t ridden a bike on the regular in probably 25 years. Only took a couple outings to feel pretty comfortable with my skill level again. (Giving more credence to the old adage “it’s just like riding a bike - you don’t forget.” lol) Now I just need to invest in a proper bike lock so I can actually use it to go to the store and such.

Shame I live in a no fun complex... Boo hiss.

Scored flour at Meijer over the weekend. 2 - 5 lb bags, $1.19 each. Win. [emoji16][emoji106] Now I can make cookies to ship to my NASCAR crew boys I won’t get to see in a couple of weeks (for the first time in cookie girl history, since no spectators will be allowed at the Charlotte races). Want them to know they are still loved and thought of, even if it has to be from a distance for now. [emoji170]

Oof... That is pricey. $2/lb. Hoping to do (1) better than that and (2) I don’t have a good way to take delivery of anything at my apartment, so I really need to find it in store. Thanks, though!

Survived the birthday month, enjoying looking at beautiful sunshine outside today. May NASCAR races will be held sans fans, so my annual May trip to Charlotte is toast. [emoji22] Informed the boss last night that I’ll be filing the paperwork for official vacation cancellation. I’ve been going to Charlotte for the races twice a year every year since 2006. I am now on the hunt for at least 10 lbs of flour to make sure I have enough to bake cookies for shipment to my race shop “track family” peeps I won’t get to see this month. Lots of folks bought up all the flour when they couldn’t find bread. That was the main reason for the run on flour, I believe. My local Meijer now has good supply of sugar but flour is still scarce. Going to venture into GFS to see if I can find some there. Cleaned up the bike and have been out riding as the weather has allowed. Over the course of 3 days, I rode about 25 miles. Felt good to get my “bike legs” back. Hope all are staying healthy and also hope May is nicer to us than the last couple months have been.

Update... Water gun acquired. Squirrel not appreciating getting wet every time I catch him near/on the feeder. [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

I have a thief... Punk is stealing all the bird seed... [emoji35][emoji35][emoji35] Thinking I’m going to get a water gun to chase him off... lol

Aries, barely. Not that I really pay attention to that stuff much, generally speaking. lol Happy early birthday! Taking some essentials to a friend with limited access to them this afternoon. His transportation is... less than reliable... over any distance past about 15-20 miles and he pretty much lives in the middle of nowhere by himself, so... Since we both live solo (thus minimizing virus exposure risk), I help him out by bringing him a few things every couple weeks since I live in the middle of everything, by comparison, so I can find stuff a bit more easily.

Celebrated another trip around the sun alone on Tuesday. Oof. Not how I was hoping to spend my birthday this year but such is life. Ordered takeout from my favorite local BBQ place for dinner that night, tried not to dwell on the “alone” part as much. Still healthy, though, so I am thankful for that.

I agree this year will most likely look very different. But... The main issue for me in terms of online shopping is that I have no secure way to receive packages at my apartment. My complex consists of buildings with 6 apartments each, all with inside entrances. Outside entry door to each building is locked. Delivery drivers literally leave packages on the front (exterior) porch of the building. It’s a porch pirate’s dream if someone’s not home to receive the package. Oof. Bottom line... If I can’t order online & subsequently pickup in store (and/or just go buy in the store directly), I’m not buying whatever it is, no matter how good the deal.

Yes. Kanyon’s right, as I understand it. They will crack down on any large outdoor gatherings and any businesses found to be in violation of the order. Some kitty pictures to (hopefully) bring a smile to your face today, my friends. [emoji4]

Working from home but it is definitely NOT ideal for me. Living by myself, the almost nonexistent human contact is wearing on me pretty badly now that I’m halfway through my third week of this. Hoping to see light at the end of the tunnel soon. As an April baby, that would be the best gift I can think of right now... Praying all are staying healthy and safe. [emoji120]