The Last Day of the First Decade of the Second Millenium

(Subtitled, the Brag & Gag. Please read it with the humor and sarcasm I used in writing it)

Whew! Can you believe it's the final day of the first decade of the 2000's? Yeah, me neither and what a year it's been for our little family!

As usual, the majority of our time has been taken up with racing. For the 2nd year, TheManTheMyth and I were elected to be the stewards for District 37 Competition Committee for the Lightweight II, Magnum, Masters, Legends and Quad classes. It's a huge responsibility and a lot of work but I've proven that I can handle it and I'm often complimented on my hard work.

Both TheManTheMyth and Thing 1 have been at the top of their respective classes all year, TheManTheMyth in the Magnum (Age 50+ ) Heavyweight class and Thing 1 in the Lightweight II (200cc) class. Thing 1 had a sure shot to the Number One plate this year until some old guy (He's 28!) decided to throw a monkey wrench into his plans and give him a run for the money. Obviously *SOMEONE* didn't realize that the Lightweight II class is for TEENAGERS dude.

Everything was going swell until TheManTheMyth broke his leg in a high speed crash. Ok, he was actually in 1st gear and he tipped over after colliding with another bike on a hill and the bike fell and pinned his leg but doesn't "high speed crash" sound more glamourous? This put TheManTheMyth out of commission for 6 to 8 weeks and cost him valuable points. He was able to make his return to racing in time for Round 2 of the Night Race Series, which he easily won:
Thing 1 would have won his class at that race but his teammate has a bad habit of crashing. We won't be teaming up with him again.
This summer was a very slow summer for the construction industry and TheManTheMyth knew he needed to do something to keep busy and to keep me from chopping his body into tiny pieces with a butter knife so he came up with a light frame for race lights for motorcycles and DeJongh Racing and Race Lights was born!
The business became official November 1 and while we have yet to sell a single, solitary light, we are optimistic and it was well worth it to have TheManTheMyth happy in his garage workshop instead of starting the demolition of our kitchen which is what he originally planned on doing even though we had no money to remodel the kitchen but he does love him some demo work.

Thing 2 continues to play inline hockey and is now playing in the Patrick Division with boys several years older than herself. This past season was rather dismal as she had a coach who clearly did not know Who She Was and insisted she play defense instead of forward where she really shines. Because of this, she went the entire season without ever scoring a single goal, the first time in her entire hockey career that this has happened. Obviously, we have requested a different coach for the Winter season. One who will recognize her skills and talent.

Thing 2 and I both were lucky and thrilled to meet our favorite NHL players this year. She (Who? Her. Huh.) favors Teemu Selanne and we went to a meet and greet where we battled the crowds in order to have Teemu autograph a photo of himself that she presented. While I wasn't able to get a photo of the two of them, I did manage to snap a candid shot of him:
And I finally got to meet MY favorite hockey player, George Parros, who I love and adore because he's HOT. I was thrilled to have my picture taken with him and since I wasn't escorted out by security (again) I consider this a success!
While the menfolk were out racing, I actually did a bit of traveling this year, visiting the city of New Orleans with my seesters. New Orleans was everything I had hoped and dreamed and it was all that and a bag of chips!
There was also a trip to Colorado where acrophobic me actually went up to the top of a mountain on a ski lift! How brave am I?

This year was also the year that Thing 2 WORE A DRESS! Yes, it's true. She had to wear a dress for her 8th grade commencement and didn't she look adorable!
Our Lucy is still alive and well although there are many people out there who think it's WAY past her time to leave the building but those people are just haters. Does this look like a dog on her deathbed?
I think not, even though she is 11 years old. As long as she goes to the park every day, she's happy.

Thing 1 is now a Senior and Thing 2 is a freshman. I can't believe how fast my little darlings have grown. Of course they both are on the Principal's Honor Roll and Thing 1 even had a 4.0 on his 1st report card! We chose to overlook the fact that 3 of his 5 classes are Surf, Teachers Aide and Computer Art. Thing 2 had a 3.5 GPA including an A+ in Spanglish so we're quite proud of our little scholars! Thing 1 has applied to Cal State Long Beach and we're crossing our fingers he's accepted despite a less than impressive SAT score.

All of the hard work and $$$ we invested in racing finally paid off! Kevin, my son Kevin, aka "Thing 1," was tapped to be a rider for Blais Racing Services with support from KTM North America! This is a huge honor! He'll be competing in the National Hare & Hound Series as well as District 37 races. He's already received thousands of dollars in new gear and parts and it's just the beginning, especially since Kevin finished the 2009 racing season as both the Enduro Champion and the Best of the West Champion in the Lightweight II divisions! Oh, and 2nd place for the desert division so that means 3 big trophies at the annual Awards Banquet! And TheManTheMyth had his best ever year end finish in his 20+ years of racing. He'll be wearing the M3 plate for 2010 for the Magnum Division!

So here's to 2009 and we look forward to bigger and better things for 2010! Which means, someone, anyone, please buy a light kit from DeJongh Racing. Just go to www.DeJonghRacing.com to place your order. Please.

Happy New Year!