Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

A few things have been changing the I've not mentioned. Until now.

My youngest, the race car driver, has changed vehicles and classes. He is the owner (or at least Hubs is the owner) of a stock car. The new race season started about a month ago and he's had a rough year. After being track champion last year in his class, he's had nothing but trouble this year. A new engine brought with it problems. Five laps into a race and something would blow. Scrambling to get it fixed for the next week, confident it had been fixed, and five laps into the next race something would blow again! This is not a good thing. It leads to lots of stress and money and major frustration.

Enter a new player. A car owner in a higher level class, Modifieds. He's asked my son to drive his car for him. His driver was incapacitated for some reason that I can't remember right now - sick or injured - or something. Not sure. At any rate, this owner has been in the racing game for 20-some years and has won very few races. He's been watching my son and wanted to approach him before, but didn't think he would be interested since he had his own car and was doing so well with it. Now, with all the troubles, this man decided the time was right to approach my son. It's a good deal for my son and my husband. They don't have to worry so much about the money end of things, and he still gets to drive and have a great deal of input on the mechanical end of things. Plus, it's faster...

About three weeks ago was the first time son ever got in the car. He came in second. Second place in a race in a class in a car he'd never driven before. The owner is estatic. He can't believe this kid. What can I say? Son is a natural.

Friday night he started in last place (because he had no points at the track they were racing at) and came in third. Last night they ended up getting rained out. It's all good... I'm so proud of this kid... this "man"...

The other change is at work. The guy who shares my office space (I teasingly call him my 'roomate', but Hubs hates that) is leaving. July 1 he starts a new job in Missouri. He's going to be missed very much. He's the fellow who lost his mother and his brother this year - and he's moving back home to be closer to his family. He wants to be there for his nephew, who is just a baby, but is his brother's son. He feels a great responsibility to be there for him. He wants to be close to his dad and his other family members. I respect him a great deal for that. It's going to be hard not to see his easy smile and his laid back manner each day. His wife is a lovely young thing with a gloriously bright smile and the sweetest disposition. She, too, will be missed. I know whoever gets hired to replace him will never be able to meet the bar he's set. We wish him every good thing in the future.