Gobble, gobble ... happy Turkey day!

Hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving. Donna and I enjoyed a quiet, relaxing day together. Our dogs also enjoyed some down time from their normal, stressful routine. :)
We weren't able to travel to see family due to the schedule that Donna's evil task masters force on her (she'll be working while the rest of you are out shopping at your day-after-Thanksgiving sales :(), so since it was just the two of us, it seemed kinda silly to cook up a big meal. So, we ate at one of the few restaurants that was open, Folks. It was actually really good ... they had a special deal complete with turkey and stuffing, and even desert. I guess it sounds kind of pathetic, but since we only get to spend the one day off together (did I mention she has to work Saturday, too?!?), it was nice that Donna didn't have to spend lots of time in the kitchen.

After our feast, we went to see "Walk the Line", the Johnny Cash biography. I've never really listened to a lot of Johnny Cash's music, and didn't really know much about him, but I'd heard pretty favorable reviews about the movie. Donna was skeptical, but I dragged her into the theater, kicking and screaming the whole way (I guess that's why the people were staring) and we both ended up really enjoying it. The downside is that now I'm spending money on iTunes downloading Johnny Cash songs. :) Anyway, if you're looking for a good movie to go see, this one gets two thumbs up from us.

Well, I reckon that's all for now. Except to say that, for some inexplicable reason, I stayed up very, very late last night and watched the sequel to Smokey and the Bandit (titled, appropriately, Smokey and the Bandit 2), and I would recommend that all of you (if it's not already too late) avoid doing so at all costs. My brain will probably never recover. Just the same, I'll probably watch Smokey and the Bandit 3 tonight.

MBNA 500

Here are some pictures from this past Sunday's MBNA 500 NASCAR Nextel Cup race.

In what has become sort of an annual tradition, Donna's cousin Michelle and her husband Terri came to visit and go to the race with us. It was a long day, and we got off to a little bit of a late start, but we had a great time! You really couldn't ask for better weather. The race itself was pretty clean, no rash of cautions and big wrecks that have characterized many recent races.

Carl Edwards managed to sweep the Atlanta events this year by pulling off yet another victory. It wasn't quite as thrilling as his victory in the spring, but I like Carl so I was happy to see him win.

I was a little disappointed, though. It was kind of a good news/bad news thing with Junior. The good news is that he dominated most of the race and looked a lot better than he has for awhile. In a telling statistic as to how his season has gone, he led more laps in this race than he has led the entire year. Wow.

The bad news was that his car seemed to lose some of its handling toward the end of the race and he ended up 4th instead of pulling out a victory. Oh, well. Considering how most of the rest of the season has gone for him I guess a 4th place finish was pretty good.

The other good news is that Tony Stewart managed to increase his points lead over Jimmy Johnson a little more. Since Junior isn't in the chase Tony is the one I'm pulling for, although there are several other drivers I wouldn't mind seeing win.

I'm a little blue, though, because the NASCAR season is almost over. Daylight savings time is over so it's getting dark a lot earlier. It's definitely starting to cool off and winter is around the corner. Winter sucks. I guess I just need to move to a tropical island somewhere. :)