A little excitement anyone?

My sister-in-law answered my plea for my quest for excitement and invited me to spend the weekend with her and my brother and attend a car show and the races.

I hopped on the ferry yesterday morning with my backpack filled with expectations and multiple clothing options for a weekend of fun.  Part of the excitment planned was that I would be enjoying a slightly "blind date" as they had invited a single male friend of theirs who had been wanting to meet me (already highly suspicious), to join us at the races.

Angie picked me up from the ferry just after noon and explained that we would be heading to Victoria later in the afternoon for an evening at the races.  We bundled up as by 4pm in the afternoon it was already cool and expected to be cold by evening.

This was to be a unique weekend for me on two fronts.  The first being that I really know nothing of racing.  The last time I was at the races I was about 6 or 7 years old and what I remember is the noise, the dust and being told to sit still and don't wander off.  I'll leave it your imagination at how well I took to direction as I do not recall going to any races after that.  The second front being that I was about to enter unchartered territory and go on a "date" with the company of my older brother.  Hmmm.  Not really sure how to react in that situation. 

I tried to wrack my brain to recall the last time I was in any sort of real social 'dating' situation with my brother and the only thing that even came close that came to mind was many many years ago.  I was maybe 14 or 15 and really wanted to go to a concert - BTO at the KXA in Kamloops.  The only way I would be allowed to attend was if my big brother took me and looked after me.  He wanted to go with just his friends.  However, since we both wanted to go to the concert, we agreed to our father's demands. 

Dad dropped us off at the front of the arena with the instructions to stay together and meet him in the same exact spot the minute the concert was over.  The moment he drove away, Dave turned to me with the command, "do what you want - you're on your own - just meet me right here at the end of the concert.  AND, if you say anything to dad, you will be in real trouble."  He then left me and I spent the concert wandering around like a tourist in Disneyland.  I did as he asked and when Dad picked us up and asked if we stayed together and had a good time I answered with an affirmative nod.  Quite frankly, at that point in my life I was more afraid of my brother than I was of my father.

Anyway, that was the only memory that came to mind of any sort of 'out of family' social interaction that he and I ever really had and I was a little nervous.

Well, we arrived early to this gentleman's home.  While he finished getting ready, I am afraid I was a little nosey and strolled through his living room.  He has a really cool juke box and a highly developed record collection.

I can report that I was a little confused.  I am way out of practice with normal men.  I can handle the alcoholic gun collectors, the stalkers and the ones who offer to buy me drugs but I was thrown by a kind, perhaps a little shy, man who did not even try to hug me (bonus points went up in his plus column).

I had a great time at the races.  In addition to the  regular runs around the track by normal cars, they had these other races called 'bump and run' or 'push and pass' or 'tap and go' or something along those lines.  The idea is you have to hit the car in front of you in order to pass.  Needless to say my bloodlust came to the forefront and I could hardly contain the excitement rising within me as I waited in anticipation for the accidents to begin.  It was way cool.  I had a blast and would go again.  There were also mini cars smashing into one another as they raced in a figure 8.  Again, way cool.

We topped the evening off with chicken wings and nachos at Boston Pizza before driving home.  Before we made it home, we dropped my date off at his home and I was struck by a sight that played a prominent role in my dreams that night.  G happens to be the proud owner of a multitude of racing cars.  They are carefully and lovingly wrapped in white tarps and adorn his front yard.  As we swung into his dark, tree shrouded yard with the multiple car bodies wrapped in tarps, all that came to mind was a morgue.  I sort of expected to see toe tags on the bumpers.  Believe me when I say, a dream about a morgue full of dead cars after smashed racing does cause one to wake up in a bit of a sweat.

This morning found me enjoying the Show 'N' Shine car show in Duncan with my family.  I wandered about gazing in a sort of awe at the approximately 40 beautifully restored cars and dreaming about which ones I would look best driving away in.  My brother entered his own restored truck.  A bit grudgingly I must admit he has a real gift with cars and did a wonderul job.  He has an incredible gift and I may be a bit jealous.  I have no discernable skills and he has so many.  I think it must be a first-born thing.  He sucked up all the really cool genes before I came along.  I was left with the weak links - one link missing in each of the genes.  This makes me always just shy of being good at anything.  Ah well, I always knew mom liked him best.

I had a bad week last week with electronics.  The motherboard on my laptop died and I lost my blackberry for 3 days on the city bus.  Blackberry was returned (not before I almost had a major meltdown) but now I am in search of a new laptop so I can actually get back online and date.  After this weekend and the meeting of a nice normal man, he has restored my faith that not every man I meet needs to be neutered.

A big thank you to my sister-in-law and brother for thinking of me and saving me from another night of falling asleep during the news only to wake up at 9pm so I can go to bed.

Well, am ready for a new week.  Who knows what this one will bring.  However, I will keep you posted.

Stay tuned