Anything but that

So I felt I had to post just to move the word turd further down our page and not as the title.

Once again things are busy as usual in the Dennis household. We are both playing on an adult kickball team (which is as fun as it sounds). I am playing volleyball with FreemanWhite in the local architectural volleyball league and Sean will soon be signing up to play basketball in the YMCA's Men's league. So we can't complain about our schedules because this is all voluntary.

I am also studying for my ARE Licensure Exams. This is the series of 9 exams I have to take to become a licensed architect. I take my first one the second week of May. I then plan on taking an exam a month. With a break for the month of December, I should be done by February of next year. I am actually rather excited about this added stress in my life, because it means that when it's all over I will have achieved one of my lifetime goals. I will probably force you all to call me Architect Ashley - I think that has a good ring to it!
Along the same lines, Sean will start his grooling study schedule soon to take his PE exam in October. This is the exam he has to take to become a licensed engineer. But I don't think Engineer Sean sounds as cool :).

I have also be selected by my firm to participate in our Leadership seminars this year. This is a pretty big deal and I am hoping to learn a lot. It is a series of firm-directed seminars that we attend in Orlando. I will get to meet people from the other offices and learn more about how are firm functions. The first one is in mid-May for two days.

So as you can tell 2008 has been and continues to be an extremely busy year - but it is also bringing lots of excitement. We will keep you posted ...

Turd Polishing

I washed and waxed the race car today. It is something I typically do about twice a year. I usually rinse it off at one of the do-it-yourself places in between track events, but the special, hands-on job I did today is a rare occasion. I feel silly every single time I do it. Mainly because after an hour of hard labor I end up with a car that looks like a 4 rather than its normal 2 1/2 (out of 10, of course). I think maybe it is just a way of helping me cope with the fact that I can't be driving it on track every moment. One of those "if I can't drive it, at least I can work on it/wash it/etc." kind of things. Plus, it is not a bad way to take advantage of the beautiful, 78 degree, not a cloud in the sky weather we had this afternoon.

Well...that...and the fact that I once heard a race car engineer say they could see an improvement of 1/10th of a second or so based solely on how well the car was waxed.

Allergies

I HATE allergies.

Claratin however...we are tight.

That is all.

Racing in the rain

The track event this past weekend (at VIR's North Course) came with weather that was certainly less than ideal for trying to drive sports cars as fast as they will go. Saturday started off wet and settled into a pattern of overcast skies and annoying light drizzle. Even though precipitation was falling, all the cars on track were drying it out fairly well...at least until 4:15. As my last student pulls off track and I prepare to go to the Time Trial driver's meeting, the rain starts. Hard. It becomes evident our TT will be done in the downpour. Oh boy.

Due to the fact that I had forgotten to turn my transponder (lap time recorder) on all day, I had no qualifying times. That meant they put me in the back of Group 3, the slowest group. I went out with 5 cars in front of me, all spaced 7 seconds apart leaving the pits. I was not ready for how slippery the track was. Once I figured out how to dance between going fast and not flying off into the grass, I managed to get going pretty well. I passed every car in front of me in my group during my 4 laps. I parked the car, glad that was over. As it turns out, even though I was held up during my time on track by slower traffic, I managed a 2nd place finish in my class (out of 7 cars)! I now have a cheap little plaque for all my efforts.

Sunday started out wet again but never rained during the day. Even though it was cold and windy and no where near Spring weather, it was much nicer having a dry track the whole day.

The car ran great. My new suspension feels SO much better than the old one. My students did great and picked up a lot of speed as the weekend progressed.

Now...if only May 17th would get here sooner so I can do it again!

Winter Wonderland

While spring is quickly taking shape here in eastern NC (flowers blooming, bees buzzing, birds chirping), it very much remains winter in the Teton valley area of Wyoming. When Ashley and I were planning this trip we were somewhat worried about heading out there at the end of March, as we were concerned the snow would be disappearing and our planned winter activities would be ruined. We had no need to worry.

Except for a 4 hour period on Saturday morning, it snowed the entire time we were there. The daytime temps were generally in the upper 20's to mid 30's, with low's down into the single digits. We went skiing on Thursday and Saturday. Snowshoeing on Friday. Watched various pieces of the action from the Snowmobile Hillclimb World Championship almost everyday. Even had a little run-in with a moose which decided to eat part of an Aspen tree in the front yard of the house.

Our trip photos can be found here:

Jackson Hole Trip Photos 3/08

Here are a few teasers/highlights as a preview: