The Fast and the Furious

Friday night I headed out to Raceway Park with the folks for some good old fashioned NHRA drag racing. I haven't been in about 10 years and besides the fact that it is more crowded than it used to be, everything was the same. There's nothing like walking in there and hearing the engines revving and smelling the fuel--completely unhealthy, but so awesome! And the way the NHRA and the drivers treat their fans is like no other. When you walk around in the pits from trailer to trailer, pretty much every driver is happy to sign autographs and take pictures. And the feeling that you get when you're in the stands and that funny car goes down the track at over 300mph is like no other.
Sadly, yesterdays qualifying round ended in tragedy when funny car driver Scott Kalitta's car caught on fire and he then crashed and died. He was a great driver and will be missed by racing fans. I'm glad I wasn't there to see that.

Spoiled

OK, I admit it, I'm kind of spoiled. Last year when we did the Disney cruise with the family I was lucky enough to have a balcony courtesy of my parents. So when we booked the Alaska trip we wanted a balcony so badly, but the travel agent told us it was crazy to spend another $700 a piece just for that and that she would book us a room with a porthole and see if we maybe could get upgraded. Well today I got a phone call, and I couldn't believe my ears--we got it! A room with a balcony is all ours! I think I'm still in a bit of shock, but I am so incredibly excited. This is the trip of a lifetime and I am counting the days till we set sail. I still can't believe we're doing this, it seems very surreal.
I've always loved my travle agent and always trusted her advice, and god am I glad I did once again!

You say Ricatta...

Many a times I have been out with friends who pronounce some Italian words a bit differently than I do and I often wondered if it was a Staten Island thing or not. I just recently came across this article and it made me laugh.

A Day Late

Frankie and I are super excited about our vacation this July--a cruise to Alaska. We've heard amazing things and because we are able to go with friends we really love, we thought the timing was perfect. We always thought it would be something to do in our retirement, but since we pretty much act like we're an old couple now, why wait?!
My travel agent knows how terrified I am to fly, and since we booked it in January she has told me that we MUST do the helicopter tour while in Juneau. It took a long time for me to build up the courage and realize that chances are slim that something terrible would happen and two years from now I would be the subject of a Lifetime movie about a girl trapped in the wilderness and eaten by bears, but I finally got there. So yesterday I went online and decided to book, only to find I have been wait listed. So this is how I see it--if we get in, its meant to be, if not...oh well! I guess we'll have to wait and see.

As a side note...I wonder who would play me in a Lifetime movie?

UPDATE: Just got confirmation that we are no longer wait listed and are confirmed! Yikes!!!