I’ve always heard the first step to recovery is admitting you have an addiction.  Maybe I should admit to that?  May I have an addiction?  It all started when Motorcycle Man decided it would be a great idea for me to try out dirt bike riding.  I’ve gotta admit, I was all for it too.  It was a new thrill to add to my adventure seeking life or my adrenaline junky side that everyone has been commenting on that I now have.  It just could’ve been a combination of everything going on — but somehow I wound up with a dirt bike.  A full fledged Yamaha TT-R125LE.  I had no intention of ever riding a dirt bike, it just never crossed my mind.  That is, until I met Motorcycle Man.  We wound up going all the way to Mississippi to get the dirt bike.  Mississippi.  An 11 hour trip one way from my somewhat nice sized Oklahoma town I live in now.  Less than 4 hours and I could’ve been at the beach, but instead we wound up in Tupelo, MS.

Picking up the dirt bike made for quite the adventure.  Not only did Motorcycle Man trust me to drive his handy dandy truck — but I also saw a few of my Arkansas cousins as well as my Uncle B.  When we stopped to say hi to good ole’ Uncle B, he figured out rather quickly that MM was a heavily educated computer geek.  Much more than what I am and in a totally different area than I may ever want to be in.  Uncle B had MM to work in no time.  Our “plan” was to just stop for 10mins or so, that quickly ballooned into a few hours we spent with Uncle B at the shop.  Man oh Man, what an adventure.

As soon as we set foot back in OK, where the dirt bike would call home, MM and his brother unloaded the bike and outfitted me in some motorcycle gear just as a precaution — which means in case I crashed into a tree or wrecked the bike.  I got a quick lesson in the clutch and was supposed to practice on the clutch, letting it in and out.  Instead, I let it out and must’ve given it gas at the right time because I tooook off!  I remember looking behind me asking if I was doing this correctly and both guys yelled in unison to turn around and pay attention to what was in front of me.  Must’ve made em’ a nervous wreck.

I’ve now acquired the “official” dirt bike gear one must have to actually ride and not get hurt.  My boots look strange and somewhat funny because of my smallish feet and well — have you ever seen dirt bike boots?  A majority of my gear is hot pink or black/white.  I don’t have any photos of anything recently or even any outfitted in full gear.  It’s quite a site to put it all on and then ride — thick socks, boots, pants, jersey, chest protector, hydration pack, helmet, gloves and my iPod.  It looks like I’m going into battle when I put all of my gear on and go riding with the boys.  This has definitely been a fun adventure that I hope to continue for years to come.

Bike riding has taken on an adventure of it’s own.  Instead of just the TT-R, I have thoughtfully named this new addiction helper, Carlos.  Actually it’s more along the lines of Carlos the Dirty Mexican —- but that’s more for comical reasons than anything.  I’ve been to a track and I’m slowly learning how to jump, my next “big” adventure involves a race sometime or another.  I’m pretty excited about that and looking forward to when MM decides I’m ‘ready’ to race.  I just know it won’t be anytime soon because of this dang Oklahoma heat!

The picture speaks for itself….the addiction has already begun.

Off go the Pro Riders

The Starting Line for MM

When you give a Kid a Flip Video Camera…and tell him to have fun!

Last Lap, Goooo MM!

The day for me, kicked off at 4:45AM.  Yes, that’s AM…as in morning, a very early morning.  Have I mentioned I hate waking up in the morning?  I’m sure I have.  There is nothing good that ever comes of waking up when it’s still dark outside.  Pops just said that MM must really be something if I was going to drag myself out of bed at that hour.  Yes Pops, MM is something.  It’s hard to believe we have as many things in common as we do.

I did pick us up Orange Hi-C on the way there.  I LOVE Orange Hi-C from Micky D’s, which is just one of the many things I have in common with MM.  I’ve been drinking it since I was a kid and no that I’m pushing 26, I’m not going to stop now.  I wound up beating MM to Choctaw….by a long shot.  You see, he told me to be there at 6, so I was there by 6.  Problem is – he wasn’t.  Turns out his alarm didn’t go off and it took me calling him to get him on the road.  What he would do without me, I’m not too sure.

I met some of his family at the track and I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I’d be.  Since this was MM’s turf I let him take the lead.  Racing is an entirely different world compared to what I did growing up.  I mean, I did soccer, the swim team, I danced and even golfed.  I did grow up riding 4wheelers or Quads as their known as in the motorcycle realm.  I’m familiar with 2 strokes and yadda yadda yadda other things that are associated with motorcycles, which didn’t surprise MM.

Although, I now have a number to pick out for when I race.  It has to start with a 3 and then I get to pick the following 2 numbers.  That’s the womens numbers, which is what I’ll be racing when I do take up racing in a few years.  I’m open to any and all ideas, I’m thinking 320, but you never know.  I may decide to switch it up later on down the road.  I sure got a kick out of seeing all the different bikes and understanding what they all were.

Since MM got injured Saturday, I played the nice girl he’s dating and wrapped his chest with an ace bandage.  His cousin was joking if MM would even race since he had cracked one of his ribs and MM said I drug her (me) all the way out here, I have to race.  Awwww, he’s super sweet.  We got his bike to the starting line, filled it up with gas, I kissed him for good luck and then his cousins wife & I along with their kids all went to the top of the hill to see the boys off.  It was definitely an exciting time.  I don’t think I had ever been that excited about seeing someone race.

The first line are the Pro riders.  There are always comments about a rider named Joiner.  From what I’ve been told he’s always lapping people and I was able to see it first hand.  He can really race too.  Maybe I’ll dream big and give him a run for his money some day?

Stilll just hanging out at the starting line.  They were waiting on the flag to drop.

Another class getting ready to head off onto the track.

The 700′s.  They all mean something I’m just not sure what.  MM is the next class so you can imagine my anticipation waiting to see him take off.

Doesn’t this make you want to get out on the track?  I know I certainly do!   Hopefully this’ll be something to accomplish in the future.

Forgive me for shrinking down the picture, but it was too big to  fit across.  Just click on it.  Far left is 818, which is MM.  He was busy talking to the other riders.

All set.  Now it’s race time and prepare the lungs to whoop & hollar and cheer my guy on.

What did I tell ya?  Talking away.  He was paying attention though cause he really took off when they dropped the flag.

Here come a whole slew of riders, but none of them were MM.  The lap around the track took around 25 minutes, which gave MM’s cousins wife & I plenty of time to chat.  Their kiddos even shot a few videos of the riders going by.

I took pictures of random riders, just to see if I could and if they’d turn out any good.  It was definitely much different than Saturday – that’s for sure.

Here HE comes!!!  If you’ll watch the video you can hear all of us whooping & hollaring for him.  He did a great job finishing.  Him & his cousin took 6th and 7th out of the race.  They both did extremely well, I thought.

Last lap.  MM did amazing.  Well at least I thought he did.  He came in 7/18 despite having lost his helmet cam along the track and then going back to retrieve it and his cracked rib.  I was very proud of him for finishing the race.

After seeing this one I want to go to all of them.  So, depending upon school and studying and tests and what not.  That’s the plan.  Good thing they only race until June.  Gruber is in a few weeks, which means we’ll be camping out for that one.  I’m out of school, so I’ll be able to go and not have to worry about studying.  I honestly can’t wait.

Saturday after the MLH fundraiser, I talked MM into letting me tag along to see him practice.  I was trying to get a “feel” for what Sunday would be like.  Since neither one of us planned on me tagging along, we stopped at good ole’ Wally World so I could get some flip flops and food.  I thought I’d have to go barefoot because there was no way I was going to wear 4″ heels to the track – which just so happened to be out in a pasture.  It was kind of funny when I went to get my cheap-o flip flops, I was going to get black because they don’t show dirt – MM had other thoughts.  I actually got bright pink ones, they suit me.

The race for this particular weekend was at Guthrie for a charity event.  I had no idea what to expect, so I was amazed at what I saw when I got to the track.  Never in my life had I seen so many motorcycles in one place.  It seriously made my stomach flip flop in excitement.  I can’t wait to start riding….can’t….can’t…can’t.  I decided to change into my MLH Bowling shirt instead of my dress, which made things easier, when it came time to get on his bike.  Man oh Man do I love MM’s bike….more so being on the back of it.

Yes mom, I wore a helmet and MM is experienced he didn’t even go that fast.  Nothing to worry about!  I got dropped off out in the open area of the track so I could watch the other riders too.  I saw MM go by once and WOW.  Talk about having a huge smile on my face.  It was amazing to get to see him ride without all the other riders by him.  After his one lap he came back to where he dropped me off and we talked about the track.  I’ve got a lot to learn! A few other riders came by and then MM took off again.  This time I was completely unaware of what was going to happen….

Technically there should be a rider in this photograph, but I didn’t get him.  Ooooops.  Now comes figuring out my fps (frames per second) feature and aperature.  Sure is nice having a fancy smancy point & shoot camera.  I’m sure it’ll take me awhile getting used to shooting an actual moving target with my P&S, maybe one day I’ll move up to the Canon DSLR that I want.  If MM sticks around, this would be a reason to invest in one.

Another riderless shot.  I hope ya’ll like looking at the track, because it looks like this is as good as it’s going to get.  Now, if you believed that I don’t know what to tell you.  I just kept clicking until I figured out the rhythm the riders were coming by in.  I got a few shots of other riders, just not MM.  He only went by once, I didn’t get another opportunity after that.  Read on and you’ll find out why.

This is what I want to be doing in a few years.  I’ll be 27ish by then, good grief that’s old.  I can’t wait to get on a bike now.  Seeing what happens on the track just made that desire that much stronger.  Hopefully when I do get good enough I can talk Mom & Pops into coming out and seeing me race.  Ahhhh, on second thought that might be a bad idea.  Can’t do anything too extreme to cause more gray hairs on their heads.

Starting to get better at taking photos of moving objects.  I was entirely too proud of myself for doing this.  I just wish MM would’ve went by again, but he didn’t.

Revving the engine.  Ummmm, yes!  I was starting to wish I had gotten a bike years ago, when I first started my savings account.  Being 9, I didn’t get an allowance for doing any of the farm chores, instead I just saved my birthday and christmas money for years and years.  It wasn’t until I was a Freshman in college that I had enough for a bike and by then I didn’t have a need for a bike.  Afterall, where can I store a dirt bike while I’m living in the dorms?

….I had called mom to say “Hi” and ask her if she knew what I was doing.  She just said she heard a lot of noise in the background – I told her I was at the track.  I’m not too sure what she thought about that, but she didn’t say much about it.  About the time we hung up with each other, MM came back.  He didn’t go by on the track, he came from behind where I was at and with more mud on him than when he left.  Turns out MM had a bad wreck.  Between snapping a bolt and cracking a rib, it turned out to be a major crash.

Thankfully MM picked me back up and took me back to the truck.  Not that I would’ve minded walking back – it was super sweet of him to do that.  Poor MM.  He loaded up his bike and I loaded his stuff in the cab and we left for where we had left my car.  I know he felt awful, he just never showed it.  I told him he had to go home and fix his bike so I could see him race the next morning – which is exactly what he did…

I think this is really the first time I’ve actually been nervous/excited/scared to do something in my life.  That’s probably not the best statement, there have been times I’ve been scared to do something, but barged on through and accomplished whatever scared me to death.  The Ropes Course at Camp Cavett….the very first time………Jumping off a Bridge when I was a kid…..Water Skiing….and of course all the other Evil Knievel things I did growing up.  I just might be the cause of a few gray hairs on my parents heads, but I do still have 2 other siblings so it wouldn’t be fair to take all the blame for the gray.

Come Sunday I’m going to be watching MM race in a OCCRA dirt bike race.  It should be interesting.  I love new experiences and trying new things and definitely stepping outside of my comfort zone.  I’m excited about getting to see everyone race, but you never know – in a few years that could very easily be me out there.  Yes, Mom’s I’ll pack my sunscreen.  I did find out the plan might be to put me on a bike while I’m at the race.  I’m sure I’ll make a complete idiot of myself, but I’m willing to give it a shot.

I grew up on 4wheelers as a kid, so it can’t be that much more different, can it?  I just won’t mention to MM all of the wrecks or siblings I ran over as a child while on those 4wheelers.  Actually, I already have.  He busted out laughing.  Looking back now, I guess it is sort of funny.  I did run into the house, a barbed wire fence, over my Baby Bro when I was around 8 or 9 (don’t worry, I didn’t run over his head – which is exactly what I said to my parents & the only thing Paps remembers and still laughs about from that incident), ran over Roomie’s leg – not her body just her leg and I’m sure there are countless other times I did something on the farm, but repressed the memories of it ever happening.

I’ll be sure to get photos of everything going on at the race, after all – Mom & Pops met at a Turkey Calling Hunt (at least that’s what they say) thanks to one of Pops’ Buddies & Mom’s Cousin.  They got married 8 months later and no, I wasn’t the reason for that either.  I didn’t come along til’ at least 2 years after that.  My point is, my family has met in some strange places.  Gramps & Grams :: working on the WWII at Boeing (I think that’s right), Paps & Nanny :: I’m going to have to get the details, but I think in town, then they’d just sneak around to see each other – Did I mention my Great-Grandpa was a Baptist Preacher?  Yep.  Can’t imagine what Papaw & Nanny did when they were young.  There have also been the bar stories, college stories and everything under the sun.

After I have completely gotten off subject :: I can’t wait for Sunday.

Two posts in one day :: this must be some type of Okie record.  I had a few minutes to spare besides my frantic cleaning that’s going on.  MM is headed over this evening.  I’m stoked.  I actually finished putting out mulch, potted my azalea from Gramps’ Funeral and put it outside to bask in the sun for the summer and in no time changed clothes and applied a fresh coat of makeup.  It was definitely a site to see.  Roomie just said “he needs to come over more often, you work so much faster”.  We’ll just have to see about that one, Roomie.  There are still a few things that I need to take care of before he comes over.  For the most part though, it’s mostly all taken care of.  No idea what the two of us are going to get into, but we’ll just have to play this evening by ear.

Stay tuned.

I had a great time the other night out on my date.  I wound up running late, thanks to OU Med Center, but promptly told my date I’d pick him up around 7.  Interurban was better than expected.  My date also decided to copy off me so, he ordered fried okra as a side (he claims he’s always liked fried okra).  Before I could eat half of my sandwich I ordered he had already finished his meal.  See mom, I DO eat slow!

Since the meal finished early, we headed to BJs for drinks.  I can now say I’m a HUGE fan of the “What a Peach” drink from there.  I want another one, or at least would love to learn how to make it to the perfection of BJs.  We chit chatted awhile over our drinks, the OKC Thunder game, and a Cookies & Creme dessert that was out of this world amazing good.

I dropped him off and headed towards home after the great date I had.  Hopefully we will do something in the next few weeks.

I will be dining at Interurban tonight & I’m a bit excited.  I thought I knew what I was going to wear last week, but I have almost completely done a 180.

Roomie suggested a dress, but once I put the one that she wanted me to wear on…problems arose.   No pockets or things to clip my heart monitor to….until Roomie brought up her special James Bond/Secret Agent way.   Which threw wearing any type of dress out & prompted more thinking.  We’ve already came up with what I’m going to wear, hopefully my date likes it too.

On a better note, my car is cleaned out.   I got out my handy dandy home vacuum cleaner & sucked up all the Ellie hairs in the front seat, Cloroxed everything the date could possibly touch up front {so I can keep him from getting my cold germs}  you know so he can go to work tomorrow & not have someone to blame for calling in.  I still managed to make my car smell like Peonies {my favorite flower}.

I’ll probably leave early, I’m taking my car to get washed and sparkly before I have to pick him up.

To everyone who is still wondering about my Kevin Costner love affair.   He is locked & loaded into my CD player because I will be making my date listen to him.

Cabin fever set in & Roomie & I came up with a plan.   Neighbor Boy is out & about, so Roomie & I had a little fun.   I think Neighbor Boy will get a kick out of this crazy stunt we pulled in the snow this year.   MUHAHAH.

Yet another date occured last night.   I had lots of fun & can’t wait to go out again.   I had never been to Louie’s in Norman, so I stepped out of my box & tried something new.   I met friends of a certain someone & had much fun BSing with all the guys.

Did the IHOP thing after the Bar, because the certain someone promised to feed me since I didn’t eat before I left.   Strawberry Crepes are amazing I must add.

To top off other news.   I will be going to see Kevin Costner & Modern West.  I’m SOOOOO excited.   I like his songs & he sounds a bit like Bruce Springsteen, but I’m more a fan of Kevin Costner himself.  It’s more of a Randy Travis crush, but still. February 3 I get to have more fun.  {I don’t have class that night, but will the next day at 5PM, all the more reason why I can stay out late that night – let’s just hope he feels the same way about staying out.}  Mom & Dad of course had no idea he even had a band.   I will be sure to take lots of photos {if photography is allowed} while I’m at the Wormy Dog Saloon in OKC.

Eeeeeeek.  Can’t wait for February.

I know some of you have been anxiously awaiting my post.  So, here it is.

Neighbor Boy came to pick me up around 8:15.   He came to the door to get me and Ellie followed I’m sure she did that just so she could approve of him.  Luckily, she did so much better with Neighbor Boy than she did with our real next door neighbor.   She came out, sniffed & greeted Neighbor Boy & then turned and went inside.

Yes, ya’ll he opened the car door for me & we were off for Hot Chocolate/Coffee.   We chit chatted about his new glasses, and that I wished he wouldn’t take them off because if he couldn’t see at night, then…well, he was putting my life in jeopardy.   {Yep, I told him that.}   We first went to the Starbucks on Campus Corner {down by OU}, which was more than packed & it was mentioned that I should have brought my H-Cap sticker, it would have been soooo much easier to park, but Roomie told me not to bring it.

We did finally find another Starbucks, located on Main St, the one Roomie & I go to all the time. I ordered and was going to pay for my order & he told me “no” – haha.  After all, it was just Hot Chocolate, not a new car.

We chatted about my new major switch to MIS.   I did get some good news about the program – 152 students graduated with 175 job offers.   All started about $50,000, which is even better news for me.   I told him as long as I could afford my house all by myself & be able to buy a car every 5+ years that’s the sort of Bank I wanted.   He just laughed & then told me he was shopping for a new car.   I thought another Honda, so I brought that up – nope, a Lexus of all things is the next car on the list. {Roomie has already made some small jokes about driving kids around in expensive SUVs.  Only Roomie would say something like that.}

We talked about Golf {which BTW (By The Way) I can no longer sell my golf clubs}.   It then proceeded to him asking me to play “the Trails” wherever that is.  Ultimately it means I need to find a golf range & dust off my swing since I haven’t played in literally 9 years.   I did tell him that too, but he did give me a few words of encouragement {he wouldn’t beat me too badly}.

With all of this conversation & his legs falling asleep, we left the swanky Starbucks & headed for my house.  {it’s now 9:41 & I’m thinking, grrreat; he’s sending me home this early} Instead, when we get to my house, he walks me to my door {which is locked} & Roomie finally unlocks it.   He comes inside {which means the date is still going}.

Ellie goes nuts for a few minutes & then calms down and Neighbor Boy sits in the floor.   We do have chairs & couches, but oh well.  Someone brings up the Republicians & Democrats, which sparks a debate on Politics for the next small few hours.  The topics bounce all over the place; the ice shelf, Obama & Gitmo, & the list goes on.

Just before he leaves, he winds up Ellie.  {after she has tried to tounge him a few times & get his ears} He gets her to doing the crazy circle nail digging thing and thinks it’s funny.  Then she starts jumping, which I thought was never going to end.

Finally, after much debate & fun had by all he left.   Only shortly after his departure did I start receiving text messages, which lasted another hour.

{for those of you thinking about my college schedule, I did have class at 8AM, which did mean I was up at 6AM & went to bed around 2AM. I did function throughout class & had fun learning all the stuff I did.}

Tomorrow neighbor boy will be making another appearance on my blog.  He has been working hard planning something for us tomorrow.  What started out as going to S. Bucks for Hot Chocolate has now turned into, Dinner & homemade Hot Chocolate, which then turned into Dinner, Homemade Hot Chocolate & a Movie of my choice to watch on 60″ of flat screen.

Oh my I will be one spoiled girl tomorrow.  Except, I will have to come home somewhat early and go to sleep because I have Saturday school.  I’m talking 8AM to 5PM Saturday school.  I hope there will be breaks & something for lunch.  I will more than likely be eating a Tuna lunch pack & Pretzles.

If there isn’t an update tomorrow, you can expect one on Saturday.

PS since he’s leaving Monday, we’re having dinner or a movie on Sunday evening.  He says he’d like to do something once a week or so {when he’s in town} – so we will just have to see what the future brings.

Since Roomie no longer updates the funny side of neighbor boy, here are the highlights:

*Roomie laying on the horn honking at him as we drove by {he was backing out of his driveway}

*Roomie driving fast so he wouldn’t really be behind us all the way to I-35

*Being passed on I-35 by neighbor boy and him waving at the two of us

*Getting a text message no more than 15 mins later; asking what I’m doing tomorrow.

*Texting back & forth for the next 5 hours

{those are all the highlights I’m giving out}

Since Roomie didn’t mention anything.  I did have a date a few nights ago with neighbor boy.  He seriously gave me a 5 min warning to be at Starbucks and well, it didn’t work out like that.   I was about 30+ minutes late and he had already drank a VENTI frapp, so we just talked and I didn’t order anything.

Then, as I’m leaving and get in my car I called Roomie and asked for the specific hot chocolate that she has gotten from there before {Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate – try one}, I ordered 2 and headed home, but only after first waiting for neighbor boy to leave the parking lot before I hit the drive thru.  When I arrived home the first question out of Roomie’s mouth was “Did you do a drive by?” the answer: uhhh, no.  I didn’t want him to think I’m crazy.

Have I heard from him since? Nope. But, thats how we work.