Fifth Place... out of 9

This is "Sleeping Beauty".... She didn't win, but she didn't 'lose with style'... not completely. (That was my plan- to Lose with Style!). It was set up in our church basement and Dave ran the computer that posted everyones times (and who was 'on deck'), etc.

Actually, I guess I didn't win, although I came in first on the last run (where my front wheel- that wasn't on the track- fell off at the end). Although I came in second in this photo above.

Here are a few of the cars that were entered. The winner of the Novice (that's our church group) was the yellow one on the far left of the first photo (#4).

The second place was the dark blue on the far right of this next photo

some more...

These below were some of the the 'pro cars' ( meaning 'fast')...

These were my dear hubby's... "I Dunno" came in with the fastest time, but another car sent in from TX won the fastest average time, out of 6 runs!

My step-son (who's autistic and has had his dad's old derby car -#4- for a couple of years), entered his 'toy' and WON! How about that!

HE was pretty happy and he ended up winning all kinds of tools, give-aways- although I'm not sure he knows WHAT he has. His dad will have to sit with him and see if he wants to build his own this time.

My co-worker and her hubby raced... she tied for first with the winner, Josh, but he beat her out with the tie-breaker runs. She's still happy she came away with a trophy. (The pre-race joke at work was, how big of a space did she have to clear off on the mantle for her trophy?)

We had a great pot luck supper, too ...

What I didn't tell too many people was that I had this great hamburg/rice/beans/corn/tomato casserole in a crockpot to bring over and it sat on my back seat (in the middle) just fine, all the way to the church. On the last turn to go into church, the left turn caused the crockpot to tip over (and I mean TIP OVER!!). All over my back seat! I pulled over real fast, stretched as far as I could to grab the crockpot by the edge, including the lid and yank it back, hoping that most of the concoction stayed in the pot. Well, let's just say half was left in there. I proceeded to scoop it up with my hands and plop it back in the pot (thankfully my seats are pretty clean, and I didn't get all the way to the upholstery with my scoops). But WHAT a MESS!!! I had melted cheese on the top,so that's what was on most of my seat. In the crease of the seat, too!!! YUCK!! I brought it in and snuck it into the kitchen, then cleaned up the pot and lid (so it looked presentable-- not bad, huh?). I had more cheese I had brought with me, so I could make it look pretty again. Whew!

and took a bucket of hot soapy water out to the car and cleaned the upholstery.... I did get 'caught' in the parking lot by someone who was coming to the event, but thankfully they laughed about it and said it would taste fine. (Thank God I don't have a dog or anything that would shed hair in the back seat!) It actually did turn out just fine... it was delicious! So really, a good time was had by all.

Quilting tomorrow, but 2 days until race day!

I hope to work on KL's quilt (Moose Goose) tomorrow as I have it off (last vacation day off before our busy season- Sept -Dec). I hope to get it sandwiched and pinned... then take it to the next Peace by Piece Quilters mtg and have the girls put Prayer ties into it. I figure if we can get that done, then I can sew the binding on (it's already made and pressed) and see if my mom wants to hand sew it to the other side (she likes doing that). I also should see if I have a label for it, since we're making it for Charlotte's Garden. It's for a 15yr old girl with brain cancer.

In the meantime, I have to go to my son-in-law's to test my pinewood derby car... the race is on Sat. along with a pot luck supper!! (Hmmm.... what to make to eat?...). I'll post a picture of it.... (my car). I'm thinking of naming it "Sleeping Beauty", but my son-in-law calls it the "Boob Car" (I have clay breasts under that quilt).

Poor Lee

My husband called and is so disgruntled! He went on an extended weekend trip to KY for the pinewood derby race. On the way back from there (via a stop in Cinncinati, OH), the van they were driving in broke down! Myabe it was the bumper to bumper traffic, but it was acting funny and they had to pull off the highway and let it sit. They had another 8 hrs to drive home.

The guy who he went with, borrowed his mom's van ( and had no $$ to fix it, no AAA card...etc). Not good. See, I should have gone with him. I bring great luck! then he called me a few hours or so later and said they were on the road again. I knew before they broke down, they'd be coming in at about 1am.

Now, who knows.... Well, I have work in the morning, he doen't, so I don't think I'll wait up for him.

WE WON!!!

I must digress from the usual quilting for a moment to congratulate my dear, sweet husband who has spent months (since Nov!) cutting, carving, sanding, polishing, painting, etc. his toy (oh, did I say 'tweaking, too?") his pinewood derby car, so he could win the district race in CT (put on by the Toyota dealers in the NY district). AND HE DID!!! There were 30 other derby cars of various styles and they ran three heats on a three lane track, so your car ran in each of the lanes, then took the average time as your speed/time. (See the post further below this one, for a nice picture of the two cars....) As you can see, Lee came in first!! He also got BEST IN SHOW! (for this, the prize was a diecast Nascar Camry Race car) The 1st prize winner of this district (#4), gets to go to NJ to race in the Regionals, (is there a National??) and also won a digital camcorder. The funny thing is, ours wasn't even the fastest car in the room. The fastest one was the second car Lee made ("The Penny Racer") that was in his bag!! Since he could only race one of the cars, and the Lynch car was his original car (and it was decorated nicely), he chose that one to race. We did a test race on a wood track at home (yes, he brought home this honkin' big 8' board) and built a track to test these two cars on and the Penny racer was faster. (He even had them do a test run of his 'winner' and the Penny Racer after the race ended, and the Penny Racer "FLEW off the track" into the wall. It came in at 3.01 seconds! We think it got injured because the second run only had it at 3.04 (although they did say each lane ran different, which was why they took the average of the three runs. At home, we 'tweaked' the Lynch car to take over the other car, but we knew when push came to shove, the Penny Racer could out race the Lynch. No matter, we won!!!!Top to bottom, 1st (us!), 2nd, and 3rd!

One more day.....and Derby cars race.

Hopefully, this afternoon, I will be able to play in the sewing room(!) This is an important thing. It's my resting area, my thinking space, my unwinding place, my peaceful room. Unless it's a mess and I can't find the things I need to work on the next project (hey, what did you want me to do, be philosophical??) All I know is that after a week and a day of going to 3 funerals/wakes, I need my quilting to center me. And it works! I also, can't wait until Wed when my husband will be racing his first pinewood derby car for his company, Lynch Toyota. (They started out as a block of wood with a hollow space underneath......yeah, ...I know!) This one is his favorite since he had the service manager willing to have the lettering put on it for him.... the "company car'. The Toyota company is sponsoring this race for all their technicians across the country (I think) and he is sooo getting into it. We meet at a conference room in a local hotel for appetizers, dinner and to race the 'local' technicians. then (when) he wins to goes to NYC for the regionals (they are already planning his hotel/dinner reservations--I get to go too!), then on to the 'nationals. Too exciting if we win!! And as I told him, 'If we lose, we're losing with STYLE!" This one is the 'Penny Racer'. From what he tells me, longer wheelbase, better power, although we tested it yesterday (my goodness, grown men certainly get serious about their toys, don't they?...) and on a 'low angle' the Penny Racer whipped the other Lynch car. But angle that board up to 3' and they are soooo close to call! I'll let you'll know how we make out.