Happy Birthday To You!
Happy Birthday To You!
Happy Birthday Dear Tony!
Happy Birthday To You!


Happy Birthday To You!
Happy Birthday To You!
Happy Birthday Dear Tony!
Happy Birthday To You!

Congrats to Kasey Kahne for winning yet another pole this season. That’s 3 poles in point races (Atlanta, Texas, Darlington) and now the pole for the All-Star Race which makes 4!

Unfortunately, I was able to watch Elliott’s qualifying run…DAMN!! I am so sad! I guess I didn’t eat enough M&Ms today. I am hoping Elliott can race his way in if not he hope he is voted in. The race commentators mentioned that Elliott was one of the top three vote getters with Kyle Petty and Martin Truex Jr. There were quite a few cars that spun out as well as a few trucks. Hopefully, the resurfacing did its job. We shall see with the truck race.

Congrats to Erin Crocker for qualifying 2nd for the truck race tonight. She is the first woman to qualify for the front row in a truck race. Good Luck Erin!

I am now going to have bite the bullet and subscribe to Sirius satellite radio. Beginning January 2007, Tony will have his own show on Sirius radio. Preview editions of Tony Stewart Live will run October 2006.

(The No. 1 pit crew pushed their car faster than the No. 9 crew to win the Pit Crew Challenge. Credit: AP)

Fox’s Sexiest Driver

Well folks, we are down to the Final Four.

Michael Waltrip vs Jimmie Johnson and Dale Jarrett vs Jeff Gordon

First up…Mikey vs Unibrow…get the vote out! Mikey is ahead of Unibrow!

No HMS driver should be in the finals!

Head on over and vote as many times as you can here! And once again as I always say…vote early and vote often!

I have watched quite a bit of telvision this week. I do watch other shows–I have to fill the time between NASCAR weekends.

Two of my favorite shows said good-bye this week–The West Wing and Will & Grace. Both finales were pretty good. I will miss West Wing more than Will & Grace however. I guess I will have to get my West Wing fix on Bravo and with my box sets.

I am a Grey’s Anatomy fan. I started watching it mid way through the first season because there wasn’t anything else on Sunday nights at 9. I think part of the reason I got hooked was because of Patrick Dempsey. I have always like him as an actor. My favorite movie of his “

1. Denny receives a heart, proposes to Izzy, Izzy says yes, and then Denny dies. The most poignant part of this story line…when Izzy breaks down in Alex’s arms. He has been kind of jerk towards her lately, but when she needed a friend he was there for her.

2. Enough already with Meredith and Dr. McDreamy. When it looked like Meredith had moved on with Doc’s vet…Derek wakes up and realizes he wants to be with Mer. I think she should have gone with Finn

3. Love George, however I don’t like him with Callie. I don’t know why, I just don’t

4. I love Bailey–favorite line from the episode “Where are all my suck ups?”

5. Christina and Burke have grown on me. I think Christiina likes to be in control of her life and when things are beyond her control she freaks. I think she realized how important Burke is to her.

I haven’t had a chance to watch the CSI or ER season finale. Postman was at union meeting and he also wanted to watch them so they were TIVOed.

Congratulations to Aras for being the sole survivor. I tried to keep up with this one as much as I could. I wanted Terry to win because he great player. However I was glad to see Aras win. He was always bringing his “A” game and I can respect that. That’s why if I had been on the jury I would have voted for Aras. I really like Survivor. I have been watching them from the beginning and I probably will until they stop showing them. My favorite to date–Survivor: Australia…Survivor: Panama and Exile Island are close seconds.

Well…this weekend will be filled with everything NASCAR.

Good Luck Tony, Elliott, and Kevin!!!!

Tomorrow is NASCAR day. Don’t forget to show your pride tomorrow.

Truck race is tomorrow night in Charlotte.

All-Star Race Saturday night. Elliott will either have to race himself in or be voted in. As they say…vote early and vote often.

Saturday, May 20, is Tony’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Tony! I would love for Tony to win on Saturday night…talk about a great birthday present.

Sold my tickets for the truck race and Indy race in June. Postman and I weren’t going to be able to make the race so we felt why not share the love with others.

Memorial Day Weekend–INDY 500 and COCA COLA 600. That’s racing from sunup to sundown.

Have a great Friday everyone!

Celebrate with your Sea Monkeys because today, March 16, marks National Sea Monkey Day! Who knew? I wonder if Hallmark makes a card for this special occassion. So go out and party it up…have one for your favorite Sea Monkey.

For more information on Sea Monkeys check out the official website.

I am currently wading through several teaching assistant evalautions. As I type the “comments” for the TAs to read, I am beginning to wonder what has happened to our writing skills. I don’t know if the kids are getting it or what. I know for a fact Ms. H. out there is busting her tail off each and every day to teach the kids proper writing and grammar skills and I applaud her for that. Thanks Ms. H!

I don’t know if this age of instant messaging, text messagaing and email has created this problem, but I for one am concerned. Punctuation is a good thing. It is alright to put a period at the end of the sentence. I remember in school back in the day it meant STOP. The sentence is done. The next one is beginning shortly. A new sentence should also be signaled by capitalization. It is ok to that too. Commas are your friend as well. Don’t be afraid to use your punctuation. I will be the first to tell you English (see English is always capitalized) was never a strong subject for me. I still to this day struggle with the whole tense, voice, etc. stuff. I tried my best in school to get grammar and writing. I had some hard ass teachers back in the day. The type of teacher who wasn’t afraid of parents, the parents’ lawyers, students and administrators. I remember learning to diagram a sentence at the tender age of 10. That’s right folks 10. I had to diagram sentences all the way through my senior year. I hated it, but I can probably still diagram a sentence today.

I would like to take this time to thank all those teachers who gave a damn and who impacted my life more than they will ever know.
Highland Park Elementary/Junior High (Amarillo, TX)
Ms. Molesworth (2nd grade teacher)
Ms. Adams (3rd grade teacher–she taught me my multiplication tables)
Ms. Despain (5th/6th grade teacher–Reading, Social Studies)
Ms. Briggs (5th/6th grade teacher–Math
Mr. Shipley (7th/8th/9th grade teacher–Science)
Ms. Howell (7th–Texas History–thanks for showing fun and exciting Texas is)
Ms. Hall (8th–US History–she’s the reason I am fascinated by US Civil War today)
Ms. Barnett (7th, 8th, 9th grade Literature–had separate teacher for English)
Coach Goza (basketball coach)
Axtell High School
Dr. Allen (high school teacher–she’s the reason I have such great typing skills.)
Coach Monsey (11th grade World History instructor)
Mr. Harris (10th, 11th grade–Math teacher)

Of this list three of them have influenced and impacted my life in so many ways.
Coach Jerry Goza
He was the one who taught me to love basketball. He was my basketball coach from 2nd-9th grade. He was always pushing me to do my best. My favorite memory of him—I was very upset when an opponent slapped me during a basketball game during my 8th grade year. The referee didn’t call a foul and my coach really didn’t say anything to the ref about it. I was also upset that we lost. After the game, I went into a temper tantrum in the dressing room. I yelled at my teammates, etc. Then I proceeded to throw my gym bag acroos the cafeteria (note–cafeteria and gym were connected together) and then as I was walking out of the school I pushed open the door so hard that it hit the other door. The only ones who said anything to me about my fit were my parents. For the next couple of games I rarely saw any game time. My butt was firmly parked on the bench. I didn’t know until years later that my coach was punishing me. He never said anything to me, but he told my parents. He wanted me to figure things out for myself. Sometimes his silence was golden. Thanks Coach Goza. Sadly I was unable to share my thoughts about him with him. He passed away several years ago.
Mr. John Shipley
I hated science (this can be attributed to Mr. Deputy). However, I was able to tolerate the subject thanks to Mr. Shipley. He was one of those hard ass teachers I was talking about. He wanted his students to be sucessful and never settle for second best. He gave everyone in his advanced classes a nickname…mine was Ameldine. I don’t the exact origin of the nickname, but I liked it. I don’t recall much of what I learned in his physical science or biology class, but I do remember learning how to take notes. I took biology in 9th grade. He would read from his notebook and we as students would have to dictate those notes into our spirals. At first we were all terrible at it. We were always trying to write down every single word. He explained the benefit of taking notes and also how to create shortcuts. I thank god every day that I have this skill. He is the reason I was successful in college. He took the time to get to know us. He would ask us how our day was going. He was also there when we just needed to talk. Thank you Mr. Shipley.
Dr. Barbara Allen
Words cannot describe what Dr. Allen meant to me. She wanted all of her students to be successful. She believed in all of her students. She hated it when students would waste their potential. Those were the ones she pushed the hardest. They hated her for it. She pushed me quite a bit, not because I wasn’t working hard, but because she wanted me to succeed. She was the reason I wanted to become a teacher. I wanted to make a difference in someone’s life. I wanted someone to look back on their life and say hey…that teacher made a difference. She passed away my senior year in high school. It devastated our little class (she was a senior sponsor and the senior class was about 20 in size). I miss her, but I still her voice pushing me to succeed. Thank you Dr. Allen. I know you are still watching all of us.

I did have horrible teachers. Teachers who didn’t give a damn and who were there for only the paycheck. I still to this day resent Mr. Deputy. He was so discouraging. He was mean and he played favorites. He is the reason I hated science for so long. I think I could have been an excellent scienctist Mr. Deputy. I found some interest in science in college thanks to some wonderful teachers, but by then it was too late for me. I missed out. I had one particular English teacher whose class I hated going to every day. She was lazy and she didn’t care. She cared only if you were her favorite. She didn’t challenge us at all. I resent her for that. She wasn’t a good teacher.

So if you are a teacher please be kind and supportive, tough and challenging, expect the moon and the sun from your students and give all those words of encouragment we as students need. You make a difference!

Thank you to all my teachers both good and yes, bad. Each and everyone of you have taught me valuable life lessons.