My trip to the NEW Yankee stadium.

Last month was my birthday and my DH got me a really neat present. Six tickets to go see the NEW YORK YANKEES at their new stadium. If you are a Yankee fan of any sort you have heard that they have a new stadium this year. Well for my birthday I got to go see it with my family. In fact DH got an extra ticket so I could take my BFF with me.

Ride in was great, some traffic along the way but with hubby at the wheel and some smooth maneuvering not to bad getting in to the city.
Parking was a breeze and then across the street and up the escalator right to our seats, which were thankfully under cover perfect in case of rain. It was a sort of pretty day with chance of rain (so what’s new) but it held out for the most part. There was a 25 minute rain delay at the start due to sprinkling but the rest was smooth sailing.

The stadium itself is BEAUTIFUL. You can walk along side the entire stadium and pretty much see the game from any section without sitting in a seat. The food court is just amazing, along with the usual hot dogs and burgers and baseball food there was falafel, noodle bowl, Mexican food and my favorite sushi. I mean really where can you see a Yankee game and eat sushi at the same time but in NEW YORK CITY.

During the course of the game we ate ice-cream, did the 7th inning Cotton Eyed Joe, danced to the YMCA with the cleaning crew and even joined in the stadium wide wave. It was a great outing and I am so proud of my hubby for making my day so special. Thanks Honey you really know how me make me happy. Sorry about screaming out into your ear the whole game, but you know the players are so far I have to scream so they can hear me LoL.

Oh yeah about the game, on the mound was CC Sabathia and we played the Seattle Mariners. We lost 8-4, and Mo did not come out in the 9th inning but none of that mattered. I had my Hubby, my kids and my BFF and the Yankees all in one place at the same time. What else could you a girl want for her 41st birthday.

How did you celebrate your last birthday ?

Flower car lady - Have a happy and colorful day

Car control clinic

My DH loves racing and in fact he’s into cars in general. I on the other hand see them as a means of getting from point A to point B. Several times he has tried to get me enthused about the idea of riding with him when he races. I was a passenger once on the track with him at the Pocono raceway and it was fast and scary. First of all you need a helmet that’s where my brain elevates the danger level.
Anyway one of my girlfriends finally took the plunge and has her Porsche and so I figured it might be a nice way to spend her birthday afternoon at hubby’s Porsche club NNJR car control clinic at the Englishtown Raceway Park. So I signed her up and my DH convinced me to try it out as well.
Well beautiful sunny day day, top down in my mini and everything was great until I got there and then, PANIC.
What am I doing here!!!!!
I am in over my head I drive like a crazy woman anyway and now I am supposed to do that on purpose!!
A complicated setup of cones to maneuver around, a sea of fast driving, gear shifting Porsche’s and little me in my little automatic mini that barely can make it uphill in the U turn by my street.
I wanted to run or more appropriately drive like hell out of there LOL.
Once more another dose of boosting and calming by DH and I decided to stick around and give it go, considering I drove 70 miles from home to be there it was not that tough a choice.

On the menu today was

A) Skid pad
B) Panic braking
C) Slalom

Appetizer was the skid pad :

Picture 50 cones in giant circle and the object is to drive around the outside of the circle as fast as you possibly can until the car almost spins out on control so you can learn how to regain control. Can anyone say Dizzy! Every instructor who hopped into my car (Oh did I mention at each lap a different instructor jumped into the passenger seat to guide you, DH being one of them) kept repeating step on the gas, step on the gas, but brain would not allow it. Lord knows I have a lead foot and yet for some reason my brain did not allow me to go past 30 mph in the spin cycle. So never really skid out of control and never need to regain it so I guess from an instructional point of view it was a bust from a sanity point of view score one for me.

Next the main course the Panic Breaking :

This was a blast. Picture a large U shaped set up with cones where you drove until the last second and the slammed the brakes just inches shy of the wall of cones at the end. Think Bambi and how if she darts into the road you don’t want to be the reason her mom did not make it home that night. If the ABS does not kick in you are not doing it right. It was a great way to learn about how to react when the ABS do kick-in in real life.

Now onto Desert Slalom :

If you are like me this is the first time I had even heard the word. Here is the definition from Wikipedia for Slalom in case you need to know more.
A long straight line of alternating yellow and orange cones designed to give a feel for real life scenario of having to change and maneuver around obstacles in the road.
Here comes the roller coaster, left then right, then left then right all the while with your foot on the gas. It was a success in that I did not knock down any cones. Yeah! Am I winning a prize?

Happy birthday to my girlfriend B and from the smiles on her face she will probably be back for seconds.

As for me, I survived the twists and turns without throwing up (that part came later and is a story for another day. It was fun and educational but not really something I feel the urge to do more than one sunny Sunday in summer. I enjoy that my Hubby is passionate about cars and that brings him happiness. You won’t be seeing me behind the wheel on the track in the Pocono’s any time soon but you will see me in the stands cheering on as my DH does a few fast laps and smiles.

P.S. Best tip of the day from one of my instructors Howard: Hold hands at the wheel at 9 and 3 at all times, so you always know where the wheels are pointing and it keeps your arms out of the way of the airbag.

Tags by Technorati: NNJR-PCA,Car Control Clinic,Englishtown Raceway Park,Pocono Raceway,Porsche

Flower car lady - Have a happy and colorful day

Conquering all that Clutter.

Q . Do you feel overwhelmed by clutter in your home?

Q. Does it feel like you can never move from your house because you have collected too much stuff over the years?

Q. Did you watch TLC’s Clean sweep and think “Boy do I need that”!?

I was always amazed at the ability of people who were able to get rid of excess things in their life. I have a difficult time throwing anything away. Everything had some value, sentimental, monetary or otherwise. End result is that I accumulated too much “STUFF”. It got to a point where it was a burden and a strain on day to day life and truly began to take a toll on me. I just felt overwhelmed and bogged down with all that weight and burden all the time.

Q. Are you ready to rid yourself of the clutter?

Eventually after having watched endless Clean sweeps and Peter Walsh on Oprah with his de-cluttering crew I had enough. Peter Walsh was not going to show up on my doorstep magically and de-clutter my stuff. It was hard to see all the people cry at the things they were clinging too and really made me take a good hard look at why I had a hard time letting things go. I could see myself in their shoes and I knew it was going to be a difficult process.
If you search the web there are 10,000 tips on how to de clutter and how to stay de-cluttered. I have read many articles, have all the info I need on how to do it and still it’s a difficult process. Here are some of the reasons my mind used to hang on to the things:

I paid XXX dollars for this
Some one can use it.
Some day I might need it & then I will have to go get a new one
I remember when “INSERT KID NAME” made this.
I can sell this for XX dollars.
Its important we cant just throw it in the trash.
There is way too much trash on this planet and now I am adding to it.
I like it, its nice/pretty/”insert adjective”.

Q. Is it really possible to de-clutter and stay that way?

YES !

Finally at some point it just sunk in that it was not about the stuff. I really had to stop focusing on the stuff and focus on the Why?
I had to stop allowing my mind to make the excuses and focus on what I really wanted in my life.
Once I started working on the why the letting go came easier. I am not all the way there, but I am leaps and bounds from where I started about 6 months ago. By the end of the year I hope to be living a clutter free lifestyle for good.

I am not going to list all the tips and ways to help you de-clutter, god knows there is plenty of info out there. I just want you to know that can be done. Work on the “Why” and then all the info on “How To” will be useful. If you just jump in there and start using the How you may end up right back where you started. Start slow, pick a small area, make some progress and don’t let clutter enter there. Once you have mastered that area keep expanding your clutter free zone and before you know it you are feeling in control.
Don’t let the amount of de-cluttering overwhelm you. If you need any motivation email me and I will be happy to get you kick started on your de-cluttering journey.

Here’s to conquering all that clutter and enjoying a clutter & stress free living.

Flower car lady - Have a happy and colorful day

Are you Happy?

What would be your response to that question if some one asked you that this moment?

I am learning that happiness is not a constant state of being but rather a temporary state of mind that we are constantly trying to achieve.
Makes me think of what my FIL keeps talking to me about vitamin C. Vitamin C is easily and quickly absorbed by the body and so in order for it to remain in your system its better to take several low doses of it rather than one mega dose for the day. My FIL takes 3 forms of vitamin C through out the day one a quick acting and absorbing high dose , the second a slow release quick absorbing low dose and the third a late release slow absorbing form so that it remains in his system for the entire day.
So it seems to me in order to sustain happiness for any length of time inside our body it needs to follow the same model. As opposed to one large dose of happy you need to scatter your day with a constant drip of activities and events that supply “happiness” to your mind body and soul in different forms.

So far my happy dose today consisted of

1) Working out at the Gym – slow release, slow absorbing type
2) Eating wonderful Indian food for lunch – quick release, quick absorbing type

On days that I get the full required dose my answer to the question would be YES. Today however according to my Happy-O-meter as of this moment I am a little low on Vitamin- Happy so I am off to find a new dose.

Have you taken your happy dose today? While you are at it don't forget to take some Vitamin-C too:)

Flower Car Lady - Have a happy and colorful day :)

Top 5 reasons that made me smile today

Here are the top 5 reasons that made me smile today .

5) I went to the Dentist and got my teeth cleaned –
I know its not everyone’s cup of tea but I really enjoy the process and the result. I don’t mind the drill, the pick, the pain, what ever it takes to achieve the end goal of CLEAN teeth.

4) Hubby remembered to take the lunch that I packed for him.

3) Have not eaten any desert today. I have been trying to give up that bad habit of daily desert . It started in the holidays ( don’t ask which one) and I have been eating some form of desert EVERYDAY. Not today, not so far anyway.

2) I went for a 60 minute walk with my BFF – Great workout for the body and the mind.


And the number one reason drum roll please .......

1) In the middle of my son’s Baseball game tonight , it started to rain. Before we could all complain and groan there was this BEAUTIFUL rainbow and both teams ran out to the field together and cheered. Everyone smiled , the game continued, soon the rain was gone but the smile was still there.


What are the reasons that made you smile today ?