J-Si’s Blog: Well, that didn’t work out so well
J-Si’s Blog: Well, that didn’t work out so well

Happy post Valentines Day weekend! We had a nice weekend ourselves. We did attend a “celebration of life” for a friend who lost her life last week. This was definitely one of those things that make you take a step back, and wonder why these things happen to great people. I would say my wife, Kinsey, knew her better, but I had many interactions with her because she was one of the first people we met when we moved out here, and she would always make an impact on you when you saw her, because in a scene full of judgmental people, she was a bright spot. Always had something kind to say, always made you smile, and never saw her in a bad mood. One of her friends described her in the best way, she said, “while most of us collect trinkets, memorabilia, music, etc… Emily collected friends.” It was evident because this place was packed, but we almost did not go inside. Why? Because of the invitation.

Kinsey RSVPd for us, so I never looked at the invite. I asked her what the attire was that morning. She looked at the invite and said that the attire is “uptown casual”. Basically wear what you would wear out on a Friday night, since most of us knew Emily from that. It also said that you don’t have to wear black, and that we all know Emily loved bright colors. I put on some cool corduroys, high tops, a blue sweater, and a nice shirt. What I would wear out. Kinsey wore white pants, some flats, and a bright pink shirt, because that’s what she would wear. We arrived at the theater, where the celebration was taking place, and I quickly noticed that something was different. Every. single. guy was wearing a black suit and tie. The women: black dresses. I looked at Kinsey, both of us wide-eyed with fear of being seen as the ones who did not bother to dress up. I said, “we can’t go in there. Nobody will know. There are hundreds of people.” Kinsey contemplated it for a second and said, “if we find a parking spot, we will go. Lets just go around the block once.” I agreed. I was positive we would not find anything because it was so crowded there. I was wrong. We miraculously found a parking spot in this sea of cars searching for one. I pulled into it, shocked that we found a spot so close. I looked at Kinsey again, and told her that I didn’t feel like I was dressed adequately enough. She said that we would just walk in, celebrate Emily, and leave. We went in there, but I was wondering why nobody followed the invite. Even as we walked into the theater, a guy was opening the door for people, but as we walked up he didn’t open it, because he probably thought we were walking by in our “uptown casual” attire. Embarrassing.

jsi-blog-pic-021615We kept those same outfits on for our Valentines outing. Kinsey had never been to a motorcross event. She always wanted to go as a kid, and it just so happened to be in town this weekend. So we made it a family date. I had never been either, so I was excited. Cason loves motorcycles lately, so he’s pumped. Chloe… she was just chillin. So we drove the 40 minutes to the stadium. Drove another 20 minutes to find parking, before settling on having to pay $30. Rip off… I know. Then we walked a mile to the stadium, holding the kids (our backs are totally fine… not), we get inside, find our seats, and Kinsey goes off to buy us some food. Cason at this point is stoked! He’s pointing at stuff, a guy did a test run on the track and he lost his mind when he jumped. It was the best feeling to watch him be so into this! Kinsey comes back with our $40 dinner of drinks, chips, and burgers, just as the show was about to start.

I thought they would just line up and start racing. No. They do a whole production with video intros, a voice guy… and fireworks. Each rider had fireworks. This is where it went down hill. Cason was having a blast until the fireworks went off. He liked the light, but then it disappears, only to come back with a huge boom! That startled Cason. He put his head into my neck, and I could feel that he was crying. He has always been really sensitive to those noises, and parent of the year here forgot earmuffs. I didn’t think it would be this loud. 20 minutes into sitting down, we decided we had to go. Cason said he didn’t like the explosions. Chloe was not phased, and probably did not care either way.

At least we tried it. We started walking the mile back to the car, and I told Kinsey to stay back, and that I would go grab the car and swoop them up. Again, fail. I was not able to make the turn I needed to make… which got me lost. I’m on the phone with Kinsey, but it was impossible to coordinate the streets… 30 minutes later I made it to them. I knew it was them because Cason was trying to sleep on the sidewalk. So about two and a half hours of driving, $70 for food and parking, and a two-mile hike, for only 20 minutes of sitting down at the motorcross. Lesson learned. haha.