What Bunny?

My son and I have been going around and around on the Tooth Fairy thing because I decided to stop sneaking into his room pre-dawn every time he managed to lose a tooth. I finally let him catch me so the "jig is up" in that area. He has accepted the fact that mom is the Tooth Fairy.
So, that brought up the issue of the Easter Bunny. He started bugging me soon after he learned about my tooth stealing side job, asking, "So, does that mean you're the Easter Bunny, too?"
I managed to change the subject each time he asked, until last Friday. I'd bought the chocolates and toys for his Easter basket, and had to carry it all around with me on Friday because it get to be 700 degrees in my little black car. Meetings, errands, and more meetings with a bag full of Easter stuff at my side.
My son saw one of the toys sticking out of the bag and he commented on it--because it was obviously something for him. I told him to quit snooping & he kind of left it alone. Then later that day he brought it up. "So, are you the Easter Bunny?" I told him he'd find out on Sunday. Sure enough, Sunday morning came around and he found his basket with chocolates, a card from me and my boyfriend, and of course the little toys I'd gotten him. He asked no more questions!!!!
I told my brother about it, and he agreed that it is indeed time to stop with the charade because his daughter is the same age as my son and they're starting to ask WAAAY too many questions. We've decided to drag the Santa thing out till the end of time, though. As long as we can get away with it, we're gonna do it.
Each year I push the Santa Envelope even further, with elaborate stunts. One year I had my boyfriend on the roof in the dark, shaking jingle bells so Shay could hear them. While Shay was running outside to catch a glimpse of the sleigh, I was hurriedly putting the "Santa" toys out under the tree. He came in, disappointed because it was too dark and he missed seeing the sight of a lifetime--but then blown away because the evidence was there under the tree.

We visit the website for NORAD every Christmas eve, to check out their Santa Tracking system. It's helpful because I don't have to answer the question, "When do you think Santa will be here?" because their tracking map shows exactly where he's at and when he'll be to Arizona.

Last year, I set mylarm for 2 am, and I quietly put all the presents out. Then I went outside Shay's bedroom window and shook the jingle bells until I was satisfied he'd heard them. I used all different wrapping paper on the Santa presents, and the gift tags were all written with my right hand instead of my left. I've gotten it to the point where I actually enjoy the challenge!!

This year, it's going to be even more elaborate. I'm likely going to be enlisting the help of a relative, who might be able to put the Santa presents out while we're in the back yard having a little warming fire. (we have a neat fireplace out next to the pool, with chairs and tables) I gotta figure out who's gonna jingle the bells......

Queen of all media

This weekend we were hired to take out a magazine crew on the lake so they could do a story about Havasu. It's a new mag called Draft and it's actually written in Scottsdale, Arizona. They've been in business about a year, and they always have celebrity covers along with an interview with that particular celeb. The one they showed me has Leslie Nielson. Anyway, the magazine concentrates on breweries and destinations, so it's kind of a travel magazine.
One of our sponsors for our boat regatta series is a local brewery and it was their idea to invite this magazine here. Then they had custom graphics put on the boat we were taking out, promoting their new beer. The brewmaster came out with us, and we took the mag people out for a good time. Showed them some of the party spots on the lake and then showed them some of the more picturesque places. They were impressed!

Tonight, I met with my committee for the Relay for Life. Our event is on the 20th, so we're in the process of finalizing plans. Huge committment, I'm finding out! We'll be on the site of the Relay from 9 am on Friday the 20th thru 11 am Saturday. The event itself starts at 5pm, and people will start walking while we have all kinds of raffles and entertainment. Our goal is to raise $60,000 towards the American Cancer Society, and I think we'll do it! So far we've gotten $20,000, and we've got teams out there fundraising and getting sponsors as we speak. I was asked to be the chairman this year, after the committee realized they would need to bring in someone with event production experience in order to get a larger amount of participation and donations. Some people don't like how I'm running the show, mainly because I'm running it like a business. That's just the way it is! I am not a control freak, I like having input from anyone and everyone, and I don't feel like I have to be involved in every little aspect of the event. The former chair did things differently and he ran himself into the ground. Now he's barely able to put in just the time that he does, because he burned himself out.
Right now, I'm donating about 5 hours a week towards this project, but there were some weeks where I put in at least 25 hours towards it. That's just how I work. Sometimes I'm on fire (and can donate a lot of time), and other times I have to actually do my real job and get paid.

Meanwhile, Steve (the boyfriend) is on his way to California to do some work on a show called "Jericho." He's a stunt pilot and occasionally gets called to do helicopter stuff for t.v. and movie.
He called me about 2 hours after he took off from here and said he was broke down in Barstow. That's scary, considering it's 7:30 at night. He's partially paralyzed from a helicopter accident seven years ago, and uses a cane to get around. He broke his back, both ankles, and had 6 months in the hospital from it. Barstow is a toilet of a town (although I'm sure he's at the airport, which is controlled--nobody can get onto the field where he's at) But it can't be too fun, being broke down in such a crappy place. I offered to drive and pick him up, but he said he was going to look at the chopper and see what was wrong with it. He's been a helicopter pilot and mechanic since he was eighteen, so I'm confident he knows what he's doing.
Incidentally, for all those guys out there, Steve is flying an Army Cobra helicopter, one that was used in the very beginning of the Austin Powers Goldmember movie. He flew in it, shooting at Gwyneth Paltrow. My sweetie is so cool.......

I'm Kind of a Big Deal

Went to work at the Baja race in Ensenada, Mexico last weekend and had a pretty cool time. My job is to write down each race vehicle's start times as they leave the line (they leave one every thirty seconds) and then we log their finish times and determine the winners by the best times. There's like 25 classes of off road vehicles so it's quite a bit of effort.
The most popular of the race vehicles is the Trophy Trucks, which are million-dollar trucks outfitted with nothing but the best of equipment and the ability to charge 120 mph thru the roughest terrain in the desert.
There are NASCAR drivers who got their start driving the Trophy Trucks. Best example is Jimmie Johnson, the #48 Lowes car. Another one is Robby Gordon, and I'm not sure which car he is this year. It changes.
Anyway, one of the newer Trophy Truck drivers is Jesse James, from the Monster Garage show. "West Coast Choppers..." wooo hooo...... That's sarcastic enthusiasm, by the way.
Jesse's married to Sandra Bulloch and they were both at the race this past weekend. Got to meet them both. WEIRD. Really weird to see Sandra in person. She's tall and skinny. Very pretty, of course.
Jesse's just Jesse. You know.

Ensenada's right on the Pacific coast, and there's a huge marina where the cruise ships bring in tourists. I saw in the paper that the Black Pearl was moored there temporarily while it slowly made its way around the coast (and thru the Panama Canal) to Florida to finish filming the 3rd Pirates movie. So I went down to the marina and "I'll be damned!!!" the Black Pearl was right there. It's a huge black ship. Took some pictures, but I didn't get to go on the ship for better ones because the crew wasn't there.

Very exciting race, from start to finish. The last minute changes made to our schedule kept us hopping but we handled it. I was glad to finally get home, after being gone for 4 days I really missed my home!!! And my sweethearts. Shay and Steve, I mean.

So, this weekend I'm working out on the lake. The cable channel Court TV has a film crew here for their new show, "Party Police" and we're taking them out on the water to get footage. Spring Breakers are here and apparently that's what this show focuses on. It'll be like COPS, but it's on the water. I will do my best to get a cameo appearance somehow. Local t.v. is not my only goal!!! ha ha haaaa.....

It's racin' time!

Just worked the first race of many for this year: This first one was the Mark Hahn Memorial Jet Ski Endurance Race, which was a 300 mile continuous race. Some of the entrants shared the course with team mates, and some rode the ENTIRE 300 miles on their own. Pretty Cool!! Next race: Baja 250 (formerly the San Felipe 250) on March 9th.

If the teepee's squeakin', don't come.....

And if the hormone's are ragin', don't ask me to make phone calls.
I've found it easier to be an ass to people who aren't right there in front of me.