Monday, April 26, 2010

What do Henry Cho, Nascar, James Spann, house-cleaning frenzy, and good friends have in common?

Those were ALL a part of my super-busy long weekend!

It's that time of year again in Talladega.....


Race Weekend.

For years, I couldn't wait until I could hear the rumble of those 43 cars, walking miles to get from place to place, and getting stuck in huge traffic jams that only 150,000 extra people in a town could create, and hanging out with my friends.

However, because of some recent events involving Nascar, we have chosen not to participate in any more race-related activities....

Except for the hanging out with friends.

Nascar or not, friends are forever!

We are lucky, on race weekend our kids are out of school on the Thursday and Friday before the race, and the Monday after the race....it's like a mini Spring Break for us all.

So on Thursday,  Jameson and I met one of my dear, sweet friends, Gladys for an afternoon of good food, ice cream and shopping.


 (I obviously have problems taking pictures backwards...lol)

I just love Gladys.  She's a whole-lotta SPUNKY packed into that little frame!

We had a great day and I hope we will get to spend some time together again....even though she says she's not coming back next year.

We will see!

Friday we spent the entire day cleaning, cleaning, cleaning because on Saturday, my BFF Sharon and her husband Mark were coming to spend the weekend with us, and go to see comedian Henry Cho on Saturday night.


(And y'all know what kind of full-fledged freak-out mode I go into when I have company coming...lol)

Back in November, when I ordered the tickets, I had NO IDEA it was race weekend.

Talk about bad timing!

Fortunately, Sharon and Mark were brave enough to fight the race traffic, and decided to come anyway.

THEN, something else happened.....

BAD WEATHER!

All week, our local super star weather man, James Spann, predicted the possibility of severe weather on Saturday.

 (Photo from ABC 33/40)

The closer to the weekend it got, the higher the risk of severe storms became.

Also, I have friend who is also a meteorologist (Hey Elliot!), and he contacted me throughout the week, warning me of possible tornadic activity on Saturday.

The problem is, Talladega Superspeedway is a HUGE place who's campgrounds are packed with tens of thousands of men, women and children.  Some in campers, some in tents.

With NO sort of storm shelter anywhere.

So, when bad weather, specifically tornadoes, threaten to make it's presence known in the Talladega area on race weekend, people go into panic mode.

Much of the day Friday, Friday night and ALL DAY Saturday was spent watching James Spann's weather coverage, and on the phone with Elliot, and my camping friends.

We made sure everyone we knew had a plan to be protected in case of bad weather.

Things were crazy for a while, but fortunately for us, the bad weather completely missed us.

**Many thoughts and prayers for all of those who suffered injury, death, and destruction during this weekend's storms.**

Sharon and Mark made it to the house safely, and we dashed out to my new favorite restaurant, Fuji (which serves fantastic Japanese food), and then rushed back home to watch the weather and get ready for Henry Cho.

There were several times throughout the day we were certain that all activities would be canceled, but fortunately Henry Cho was not.

We had a FANTASTIC time at the show!

 The historic Ritz Theater in Downtown Talladega, AL





The guy sitting in front of us took pity on us and volunteered to take a group shot for us...lol



Mr. Henry Cho, live and in person!


Henry and up-and-coming comedian, Brian Bates
He is so funny, and CLEAN!

It was so nice to be able to have an enjoyable evening, and not have to blush and cringe at ever-other word.

During the show, Henry had a question-and-answer session, where we discovered many unusual things about him....

1.  He may be full-blooded Korean, but was born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee (and has the accent to prove it....lol).
2.  He's married to a woman from Arab, Alabama.
3.  He is a Sunday School teacher (He actually left right after the show to be back in Knoxville the next morning to teach class.)
4.  Not only is he a Sunday-school teacher, but was recently asked to be a Deacon in his Church.
5.  He's recently shot a pilot for a FAMILY FRIENDLY comedy show for CBS (Think "The Cosby Show"), however, CBS doesn't know where to put "this type" of show in their line-up....so the show is on hold.

He is fantastic, so if you EVER have a chance to go see him perform, do it!

Go HERE to see hundreds of videos of his performances!

So, it's now Monday, hubby and I are still recouping from our long, fun weekend, looking over our nice clean house.

Hubby did so much cleaning, yard work, and running around, he's sick as a dog today.

Thank goodness race weekend only happens twice a year!

6 comments:

  1. I looked like I was "3 sheets in the wind" for Talladega but I don't drink!!!!! Had a great time Robin & Jameson and we shall see about next year. Love ya, Girl!!!!

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  2. Sounds like a great weekend. We went to a wedding Saturday night at Church in the Pines on Lake Martin. It's open sided with a roof. Talk about people in panic mode. But everything went off beautifully.

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  3. So glad it all worked out, regardless of weather, traffic, race weekend, etc. It was YOUR weekend to enjoy and it sounds PERFECT!!

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  4. sounds like you had a fun-filled exciting weekend! good for you!! :D
    race was good.. my driver was in top 10 most of the day and even led a few laps. but alas, he got caught up in someone else's mess.. so DNF..SIGH!!

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  5. Y'all did have a very,very busy week-end and I too am so tankful the storm missed our area and pray for the families that lost loved ones. Love you, Susan

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  6. Lots of fun for all. Love the pics. You always look like you are having so much fun-in all your pictures that you post. When I'm feeling down in the dumps your blog is the go to place.:)

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