To Race or Not to Race

Saturday the 1st we drove to Daytona for our annual day at the Pepsi 400 NASCAR race. I swore I would not attend anymore in July as the last two years it rained and delayed the race by a few hours. I was sweaty, hot, cold, icky, irritable, not having fun. But this year I thought I'd be a good wife, in light of what Gerry has been going thru, it was the least I could do. However, HE wasn't thrilled with going and the thought of a rain delay. We decided to drive up and go by the weather, the parking, etc. We got there at 6 instead of the usual 3 PM. We were fortunate to get parking behind the backstretch and get taken to the stands by tram. It wasn't crowded as most had already gotten to their seats. We didn't have to wait on line for the bathroom or for food (for Gerry - I wouldn't eat the sausage, hot dogs or hamburgers - too greasy). The race started on time, the weather was beautiful, and we were doing fine. After about 65 laps (the whole race is 160) we decided to leave as G was getting tired and we had a really long ride ahead of us. We were supposed to stay with our friends at their timeshare in Cocoa Beach, but then head to Ocala for a BBQ on Monday. The thought of driving 45 -60 min further southeast, just to see our friends for a few hrs the next day, then drive to Ocala (and coming from Cocoa Beach added another hour to the drive), knowing Gerry had to take his treatment that morning and wouldn't be feeling well, made us decide last minute NOT to go to Cocoa, but to go from the race to The Villages in Leesburg, FL, where my in-laws have a house (that is not being used at the moment). I am afraid we were not very thoughtful of our friends, giving them the news as we drove up to the race. It was selfish, but we had to think of Gerry and how he felt physically. So....it took us two hrs from Daytona to get to the house....I had to take over the driving 3/4 of the way as G was falling asleep. We enjoyed the peace and quiet Sunday, went to visit my cousins later in the day (who I had not seen since they moved to FL last year) and had a nice quiet evening, me knitting, him watching TV. Monday, after several naps on his part, Gerry and I drove to Ocala to stay with Becca and Phil. We had such a lovely visit. We went to my ex in-laws for BBQ on Tuesday, had a nice time, and went back to Becca's to watch the Macy's fireworks show from NY. Wed was back to home and the doggies. Speaking of dogs...Becca and Phil have 3 - two they bought and one they found. This week another found it's way to their house. She's so beautiful (so sorry I don't have a pix of her). She's young, looks like a white or yellow lab (sandy colored), trained, housebroken, loving, playful. We SO wanted to take her home, but we already have 3 in our small house (Gerry was dying to take home the little black dachshund/Chihuahua Lucky Girl). Becca and Phil will keep the lab until they find a home for her, as we found out that the Humane Society only keeps them for a while and then puts them down. None of us could stand knowing that!!! Gee, if it was that hard leaving those doggies, how the heck am I gonna say goodbye to my grandson when we part??