Gustav sends my friend feeling - again.

I've got a friend that lives close to New Orleans and obviously suffered through Hurricane Katrina three years ago. They evacuated to Baton Rouge, spent four days in blistering humid heat with relatives that they didn't particularly care for only to return home and find their house with feet of water in it. Her parents' home was completely destroyed.

Hurricane Gustav is now on his way to that same area with loads of force. It's a category 3 storm, but expected to strengthen to a category 4. I, living within very close proximity to the coast myself, have a "I stick like glue for a category 2 and flee for a category 3" rule. We've been here through two 2's and did just fine. There were tense moments, though. I don't care to find out what it would be like to watch our trees bend in more severe conditions.

So my friend and her family, who had intended to stay put, are now frantically packing, elevating everything in their home they can, and getting the heck out of dodge with intense anxiety for what is about to happen and what they'll return home to find. In her email to a group of folks she said, "I'm in tears. I can't believe this is happening - AGAIN."

I'm thinking she's conveying the sentiments of many gulf coasters. Unfortunately, I can believe it. When you choose to live in a coastal region, it's a real risk. I warn everyone who says they want to move here of it. When my parents moved to a town about 10 minutes west of us, my mom said, "But a hurricane wouldn't hit here, would it?" *sigh* These storms are often hundreds of miles big. I don't think mom and dad will get hit with coastal flooding, but their winds will be only a few miles an hour weaker than right on the beach. And they'll get flooding from the river that flows a quarter of a mile from their home in a storm surge. Again, the risk is real.

Godspeed to you, your family, and everyone in your area, my friend. I pray for this storm to weaken and not cause havoc. No one deserves it. :-(

Holy crap! ECU beat Virginia Tech!

I can't say that I've been a particularly outspokenly proud graduate of East Carolina University, but that's got nothing to do with my feelings for the school. I thoroughly enjoyed my six years there - and yes, that did include a masters degree. I'm no Tommy Boy.

While we were there, we attended almost every home football game. While I couldn't care less about football, there's just something about sitting in that crowd. It's electrifying - especially when we were playing a team with a great reputation. ECU has struggled to make it into the top 25. During my senior year, I can remember the players wearing "We're 26!" shirts in celebration of almost making it.

For weeks my husband has been waiting in anticipation for ECU's football game against Virginia Tech. He, also, isn't one to wear a big pirate sweatshirt or attend the quarterly alumni mixers. Yet, we love us some purple and gold on the inside.

Anyway, we had dinner with this guy a few months ago at a mutual friend's house. It was the first time we met him and his family. And while they were delightful, we were sort of struck by how he wore a very feminine looking Virginia Tech sun visor throughout the dinner. Mind you, it was winter, we were indoors, it was dark...it was odd! And it reminded me of something women wear on a golf course.

Since that day, I've seen him with it on several times, including just recently driving through the neighborhood. He's definitely committed.

As it turns out, this guy's son is in my daughter's kindergarten class. When we saw him on the first day of school, hubby and I, both, almost burst out laughing when he was without that visor. I guess it's frowned upon in the corporate workplace.

So to wrap up this story, ECU beat Virginia Tech today! The score was 27 to 22 and it was won in the last minutes. Virginia Tech was ranked 17. This is absolutely an upset! And being the childish people we are, we have plans, early tomorrow morning, to stick an ECU magnet on Mr. Virginia Tech's mailbox! LOL

There will be no damage done. No crime committed. It's merely a gift from one neighbor to another. Mwahahaha Hubby wants us to get our daughter a big ECU skirt to wear to school. But duh! That would blow our cover! :-p

And no...we probably really put the magnet on the mailbox. But just in case we get nutty, it's sitting on the dining room table just next to our front door.

WAY TO GO, PIRATES!!!

Could I be losing my religion?

For year, and years, I have been in love with Tony Stewart. For those living under a rock, he's the Sprint Cup driver of the #20 Home Deport car, a two time championship and further a champion in ever series he's ever had a full-time ride in. In my eyes, he's a god.

What's funny is that in 1999, his rookie year in the then Winston Cup series, I loathed him. I was at the Coca Cola 600 in Charlotte that year and Stewie pulled double duty, racing also in the Indy 500. Prior to that race, I didn't have much an opinion about him. On that day, but before the race started, the sight of him made me sick.

In his defense, it wasn't entirely his fault. It had something to do with the every 30 second updates from the track promoters.

"Ladies and Gentleman, Tony Stewart has just moved up to 4th place in the Indianapolis 500."

"Ladies and Gentleman, Tony Stewart has just taken 3rd place."

"Ladies and Gentleman, Tony Stewart has just finished the Indianapolis 500."

"Ladies and Gentleman, Tony Stewart has just stepped out of his car."

"Ladies and Gentleman, Tony Stewart just peed."

You get the point.

Then when he finally got to the track, his helicopter circled around the inside with him standing in the doorway in his primarily white fire suit, waving. I flipped him off.

I think it was the 2001 season when the tides began to change. I can't remember the circumstances, but I found myself really wanting to watch his speech at the annual awards banquet in NYC. Before I knew it, we went to five races that next year and found ourselves to be card carrying members of the Tony Stewart fan club. Before you make a "dork" judgement, we did it because there used to be an annual picnic where you could meet him - which we did. My husband said I was more "glowing" in this pic than on our wedding day. Untrue.

As a result of my love, I've brainwashed my children. "Who will win the race this weekend?" They answer in unison. "Stewie". "Who does mommy love?" "Stewie." Now, I may have to take those back.

This afternoon I was reading Matt Myftiu 's blog Nascar: Beyond the Track and he referenced an upcoming article about Smoke in Rolling Stone magazine. Let me give you a few quotes from this umm...enligtening??...piece of journalism.

"My parents are afraid my dick's gonna rot off," Stewart says. and "If there's one thing I don't lack, it's pussy. Between me and Tom here, there's two things we definitely don't lack, and that's pussy and money." Stewart is standing in his relaxed pose, with his thumbs hooked into his jeans. Carnival sounds and car horns float into the lot from the other side of the vast Talladega infield. "Pussy, money and race cars. That's pretty much all I care about."

Niiiiiiiiiiiiice. I kind of feel like someone burst my bubble. I love Tony for being passionate and not being afraid to show it. To me, that gave him depth, even if his actions were sometimes deemed "unbecoming to the sport." These little quote gems, however, left me a bit disenchanted, though. Surely my racing hero doesn't have the maturity of an almost-forty-year-old-rough-around-the-edges frat boy, does he? I still want to think not, but....... *shrug*

So who splits the difference between Jimmie "Media Darling" Johnson and Tony "Pussy, money and race cars. That's pretty much all I care about" Stewart? I feel like I'm losing my Sunday ritual of worshipping my Stew.

Who knew I had so much influence!

According to the Myrtle Beach Sun News, the NASCAR Sports Grille is closing! I better be careful with my words. A review of being a bit expensive evidently carries a lot of weight in this town! RIP NASCAR Sports Grille. May your owners find the employees new jobs.

The time suck of planning a Walt Disney World vacation

Let me be the first to say that our family loves Disney World like nobody's business. My children are 5 and 3 1/2. The 5 year-old will be embarking on her 4th visit this December. She went when she was 13 months, 2 1/2 and 3 1/2. The poor child hasn't been there in over a year! Such a travesty!

Let me not lead you to believe, though, that this is all for the kids. My husband and I are huge fans too. Now we don't go all the way by wearing Mickey crocs and mouse ears in the parks. But this trip is definitely something we can't keep ourselves from planning time and time again. We had decided, after our trip last September, that we would probably not go again until this coming June as we didn't want to take our budding kindergartner out of school for a week. Yet when we started talking about the crowds during the summer, we just couldn't bring ourselves to endure them. We will be going again in December and my parents will be coming with us.

While I thoroughly enjoy all of the fantastic websites out there chock full o' information about the parks, getting there, the hotels, the restaurants, etc etc etc, I find myself sucked into that vortex only to emerge hours later. I would be ashamed if there was some hidden camera hooked up to my laptop that tracked how much time I've spent developing our itinerary. It didn't help, of course, that we were originally planned for December 6 - 12th and now we've moved that to December 13th through 19th.

For the millionth time, I've just gotten off the phone with the lovely people at the Disney Dining hotline trying to move a reservation we have at Chef Mickey to an earlier time. I will call another million times before our trip...that is unless I get the ressie I want. And let's be honest, even if I do, I'll still probably call again trying to change something else. *sigh* Is it an addiction?

I read the Disboards all the time, contributing my experiences and opinions and tucking away others. Honestly, the people there are the only ones I have to talk about my upcoming and past trips. My family is sick of me. Any conversation that starts with "When we go to Disney World..." is prompted replied to with a great big old eye roll from my husband. My mom is more subtle, but I sense some exasperation over the topic from her too.

All of this planning is bittersweet. On one hand, I love it. I love putting every detail together in an effort to see every parade, miss every fireworks display (the girlies are terrified), eat at our favorite establishments, ride the best rides with minimal line wait time and, and, and...the list seems endless. On the other hand, it annoys me greatly that you need to plan out every minute of your day. A vacation is supposed to be about relaxing a bit and going with the flow. I've learned in WDW, that going with the flow leaves you hungry and frustrated.

As I mentioned, my parents are coming with us this trip and that should be a unique experience. Dad is disabled and mom also has heart problems. We typically do a lot of hustling from place to place and little sitting down and resting. This trip is likely to have a lot more of that. It'll be a different mindset for hubby and I. It'll be worth it, though. Our girls are so so excited that their grandparents are coming. And my parents are so excited to be back at WDW after 30 years and at Christmas time - which I will say firsthand is amazing!