Thankful Thursday at the Indy!

I missed last week due to a busy schedule but am happy to be back so here we go!

I am thankful that this weekend is the Honda Indy in Toronto. An odd thing to be thankful for you might think, but for me it’s less about the race itself and more about seeing all of the familiar faces I have come to know over the 10 plus years I have been volunteering at the event. I started off on Pass Control, even led my own team for a couple of years, moved up to grids, got to drive in the drivers parade (I drove Patrick Carpentier, my sister got to drive Alex Tagliani), have watched my darling husband grin from ear to ear as he got to be a pace car driver for the support series and drive a super-nice Ford GT (it was soooooooooo cool!) and now I help out with worker registration etc. The same faces congregating every year for a few days at the same site, doing the same jobs, it really never feels like a year has passed when we all meet again.

The marshals, the crews, the volunteers, we all smile and wave and it takes mere minutes before we are all back in our groove and doing what we love with the people we have known for years. It may be only this event that we see them at for the year, but we all make it count. We all work hard in our respective roles, but all make sure to have some fun too!

A few faces come and go, but the core remains. I know two faces that I miss terribly to this day that were part of this event. The irrepressible Tom and always smiling and laughing Lou. Returning to the event I swear their spirits are there. It’s a wonderful feeling.

I will never forget lining up at mock grid out with those bright orange boom sticks directing the Canadian Military on and off the track. Don’t laugh, I totally teared up, I give them all the respect they deserve and more. And so did the crowd, you should have heard the roar and seen the standing ovation that carried on for them. Amazing. What a moment to have been a part of.

I remember seeing my old go-karting coach, and former Indy Lights driver, Lee Benthem last year twice and screeching with excitement as I hadn’t seen him since, well, the year before! My other coach David Empringham, another Canadian superstar who still races in Grand Am from time to time, was also there and I made sure to get hugs from both of them. They know I get a little hyper sometimes LOL.

I also remember the year that I wore my winter, yes, winter, coat and mittens at mock grid out it was so cold. I swear to you I saw flakes falling.

I remember the year that Tommy Kendall kept coming up to the exit from the building in his drivers suit but with no car. I kept teasing him about his team not wanting to give him his car. We had some laughs. I was impressed and we exchanged big smiles when he finally drove up in a car ready to race.

I am thankful for the final Indy with Tom when we were ‘Grids Two’. I had so much fun, who knew it would be his last. I am so thankful for those memories.

I am thankful for so many memories and fun times at this event.

Tomorrow is Free Friday, if you have the day off, go make some memories to be thankful for, I’ll be there and tweeting mine to you all!

***This is not a promo post, I am genuinely writing this from my experiences, I’m sentimental, what can I say?***

 

Time Management =’s my Life at Present

Wow! I have not had to live by my daytimer this much since, well, school! I have been non-stop for over two weeks now and it’s not stopping til maybe August! Isn’t it sad that I’m already having to plan for August?

Well, what has NonMom been up to? Soooooo much!!!!

NonMom is launching another contest this week based on the new uber-yummy and better for you Lipton Green Teas and is so excited to have a few of the girls over for some fun times tasting them! And stay tuned for the contest to win some of the Lipton Teas as well as a beautiful gift pack from them!

And NonMom tried out a few of the new Transformers too. TOO… MUCH… FUN! NonDad and I opened them up and tried them out ourselves and my oh my have the ever evolved from the toys I remember as a kid. Yes, I played with Transformers, they were cool! Bumblebee will always be my favourite but I’m still getting used to him as a Camaro now LOL. I can hardly wait to see the movie and NonDad and I are hoping to get to it in the next week or so.

NonMom has also been busy with her other blog, AutoSportGal, and this week she is headed to the Honda Indy Toronto!!!! After volunteering there for probably close to a decade and doing various jobs including driving Patrick Carpentier in the drivers parade, I managed to get a worker pass and will be blogging on the other blog while and tweeting etc.! I’ll have to do my work first, but there’s always time to wander and take in the event.

So as you can tell, my daytimer is my best friend at the moment. I know I should use my beloved Blackberry as my time management tool but there is something about the paper and pen that I cannot give up so my little black book (no, not that kind of book LOL) follows me everywhere and keeps me organized.

What do you use to keep your schedule straight? Are you ‘Hopelessly Devoted’ to your paper daytimer like me or a tech-only person? And how on earth do you schedule everything into 24 hours a day….tips appreciated!