REMEMBER, I'M GOING TO BE 51...

Man did I have the BEST time tonight! Tomorrow's my 51st (arrrggghhh!) birthday & this evening Tyler & Shannon gave me an AWESOME birthday present! I have to explain...I guess it was about a year ago (I have a terrible sense of time), they took me to Golfland to drive the go karts. I was so excited afterwards--it's a great thrill, so shortly afterwards, we went to CrackerJax in Scottsdale where they have even better go karts. I LOVE SPEED! So, I thought that was the ultimate & so we've been there a couple of times. Well...tonight topped even that!! They wouldn't tell me where we were going except that I had to wear tennis shoes (no open toed shoes) & that I would have to be willing to sign a waiver. Needless to say, I was a little concerned--only dangerous things require waivers. I told them anything goes except sky diving--can't stand heights. We drove past the turn off for the airport, so I was relieved. We kept going till we got to 21st St. in Phoenix. Then, I started remembering that when I was originally checking out CrackerJax, I saw something about this indoor speedway on the internet. So, I said, "We're going to the Speedway?" & Shannon says, "What's a speedway?" Then I knew...we were going to "Speedway Indoor Kart Racing Center!" I started getting REALLY hyped. This was going to be awesome. We drove up & there wasn't one single car in the parking lot! Thinking it was closed, I was a little bummed, but Shannon got out to check while Tyler proceeded to park clear across the parking lot (remember...NO cars in this HUGE parking lot). He got out while she checked & YAY it was open!! So, we went in & the first thing we had to do was read & initial all these things about danger, getting killed or dismembered & it wasn't their responsibility, blah, blah, blah...just LET'S GO already!!! We also had to put down our special "driver name." Shannon became "Speedy Gonzalez," Tyler was "Fester," of course (everything's Fester), & I became "Parnelli." My whole family has called me Parnelli Jones since I was pretty young because of my love for speed & recklessness no matter what I was driving (motorcycles, the jeep, even my car). Then, we had to watch a video (these people are serious) about danger, getting killed, dismembered, again...blah, blah, blah & then they showed us the different flags they might use & what they meant--sorry, but remember, I'm going to be 51 & my memory's shot, there's no way I was going to remember that. Oh well...just LET'S GO already!!! We went out, put on these do-rag type things & a helmet over that--couldn't hear a thing. Remember, I'm going to be 51...As you can see, Shannon got some really flattering pictures of us. I particularly like this one with my tongue hanging out:

FINALLY...we went out to the karts & the guy assigned us our cart. I was the back one which was probably for the best because I just KNEW I was going to lap them ('cuz I did at CrackerJax) & wanted to give them a chance, at least. Ummm...didn't work out that way. Those karts can go up to 50 MPH! Tyler & Shannon were really good. There were 12 turns & it was 1/4 mile around, 20 laps in all. Well, I did get in front of Shannon, barely, so then poor thing, she was following right on my tail for quite a while. She tried to pass but couldn't, even bumped me once which I just felt a little. (Sorry Shannon, I know racing means don't let the other person pass, but I would have if I knew you were that close.) Well, she apparently spun out once so the guy helped her get going again. Another driver came on the track & lapped us all at least twice! Tyler's fastest time around the track was 35.77seconds, Shannon's was 36.82 & mine was 36.89. By the 19th lap, my arms & legs were getting tired & thought it would be nice just to take a short break. Remember, I'm going to be 51! Tyler was the only one who got to finish the 20th lap because by then, our 15 min. were up & we got the checkered flag. (Oh, I remembered what that flag meant, even though I'm going to be 51!) I was on such a high the rest of the night I couldn't settle down & did hyper-talking all the way back to their house! We decided to have a pizza delivered instead of going some place--good thing because my hair was a disaster by then, make-up all messed up, etc. The pizza was good and we watched Survivor (the episode where DUMB Erik gave away his immunity necklace then got voted off--who didn't see that one coming?? Apparently he didn't. Duh!). I just kept talking all the way through the show & Tyler had to keep pausing it till I would shut up. Thank goodness for TiVo! Then, Shannon pulled out a delicious chocolate cake! All in all it was an AWESOME night & a GREAT birthday present. When do we get to go again???