My “lucky” streak continues… and other stuff.

Happy Random Tuesday, friends!! :)

• Remember a week or so ago, when I told you guys I was having a bit of luck lately?  I won a “treasure hunt” contest put on by a local restaurant, I unexpectedly received a credit on my Amazon Visa account because they automatically cashed in my rewards points, and then Brad Keselowski (my driver in the NASCAR pool I’m in) FINALLY won a race.  Nothing major, but a few little things that made me smile.  I figured after the third one, my little lucky streak was over…

• Oh, but it wasn’t.  This Saturday, my so-called “luck” continued.  Except this is one thing I never, ever wanted to win.  I was so excited for the Car Rally that our Lionettes host ever year.  It’s one of those small-town events that everyone gets excited for, and has circled on their calendar well in advance.  I’ve been going on the Rally since I was in my late teens, and have been on a team with my friends Stacy, Ricky, Sara & Graham for a LONG time. It’s like a big scavenger hunt, with a list of questions to complete and clues to find, as you tour the back roads with your friends and have a blast!  The only problem is this: the team that wins has to map the route out for the next year.  And that is a BIG job.  So very few people actually want to WIN the Car Rally…  Our goal is always 2nd place (and we’d be happy with anything in the Top 10).
• This year’s Rally, organized by a group of our friends, was one of the toughest/longest I’ve ever been on.  We struggled with many of the questions.  We didn’t think we had done very well.  Until we got back to the hall for the dinner, and started comparing answers with other teams.   That’s when we realized that everyone had struggled… and after the organizers revealed the answers and started calling out the placement of the teams, we REALLY started to worry…
• It came down to the final two teams, and we were one of them.  They called both teams up to the front, and I honestly thought I might throw up.  I just kept repeating, “We can’t win… we don’t want it… we can’t win…” 
• So OF COURSE, they announced that we were the winners.  BAH!!!

Photo via Dolan Art & Photography

• Those are fake smiles.  Trust.
• After the initial disappointment, and the despair at knowing we have a lot of work ahead of us in planning for next year, we actually cheered up with the thought that it’s pretty cool to have our names on the trophy at least once, and to know that we won one of the hardest Rallies ever is pretty cool too.  Then the ideas started swirling, and the next thing I knew, I couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t stop think about Car Rally 2014! LOL!!  I was relieved to hear the next day that Sara & Stacy were both in the same boat, and were so wound up they had trouble sleeping too!
• Thankfully, since then, sleep has no longer been a problem.  No more mapping Car Rally routes in my dreams!!!
• I woke up this morning with one of my extra-special sinus headaches.  It was just a dull ache for a while, but it’s really starting to flare up now.  I haven’t had a bad one in a long time, and I actually thought my “healthy lifestyle” had maybe kicked the headaches to the curb.  Apparently not. *sigh*
• Don’t even ask me about how the house painting is going.  At this rate, I’ll be lucky if it’s done by Christmas.  *sighx2*
• Spaghetti squash verdict:  I like!!  I tried out that Spaghetti Squash Au Gratin recipe, and it was quite yummy!  My squash must’ve been a fairly large one, though, because I only needed half of it for that recipe.  The other half I shredded up and put in a separate container to use with pasta sauce for suppers this week.  Would I call it a legit substitution for real spaghetti?  Not really… the texture isn’t right, it’s got a crunch to it.  But I’ll be mixing it up with veggies and pasta sauce tonight, and I’m sure it’ll be great!

• You know what the PVR has brought back into my life after a several-year hiatus?  The Young and the Restless.  I tuned back in (or started recording) just in time to catch the drama of little Delia’s tragic death.  Very very sad, of course, but I’m loving all the Billy that I’m getting these days.  Not just any Billy, though.  Devastated, tearful, angry, and vengeful Billy.  YUM.

• Y&R has never really been a “must-see” for me – I’ve floated in and out of it for years, and while I can get hooked by a good story line or a particular character, I don’t really miss it when I’m not into it.  But there’s one thing that can draw me right back in at any time.  And that, ladies and gentleman, is Billy.

 

• Last week, I told you all about my “Scary Movie Marathon” – which has now been put in jeopardy because of the painting progress – but I forgot one of the movies I plan on watching.  The remake of The Amityville Horror.  The one with Ryan Reynolds.  I picked it up in a cheap bin at Giant Tiger a few weeks ag0 as a little “Halloween treat” for myself.  I think I’ve seen it before, but I can’t remember it at all.  But really, how can I go wrong?  A little scare for Halloween, a little Ryan Reynolds… made it an easy pick! ;)

• That picture up there?  That’s for my brother-in-law Chris, who told me this past weekend that some days my blog isn’t very good.  I pressed him for reasons why, and he said, “Well, on the days when you put pictures of naked men.”  For the record… they are only half-naked, Chris.  And I dedicate this half-naked beardy Ryan Reynolds to you!!

Linking up with Stacy Uncorked for Random Tuesday!!