Christmas Parcel has Arrived!

Thanks Mum and Dad, it's finally here, thanks for all the goodies!


How is this for a history Posted on 4th December
Left NZ on the 6th December

Arrived Dubai 29th January
Collected 30th January

Where was it in between, no idea, but it was probably interesting!

Grant decided to check with the central Post Office in person today as we were beginning to think that the parcel really was missing for ever. What a coincidence when he found that it had only just arrived the day before and the notification had just been sent out.
Everything was in fine shape and it was so nice to have a mini Xmas all over again.
Jake was just bursting with excitement as you can imagine, he was upstairs all evening immersed in Star Wars fun. Scott was his usual cool self but soon had his head buried in the Karting book. Grant finally had to remind him that there was homework waiting - that way Grant got to check it out too.
I was really spoilt, I've got that lovely paua bracelet on right now. A million thanks to you Mum and Dad, what a special boxful of treasures for us all.

Thanks also for the message Dad, you are very good!
Wish we had some of those spuds here, have to make do with some all the way from Australia.
I planted a tomato plant, what a sad wee thing it is. Everything I planted late last year has struggled because it's been so cold. We had 6deg the other night. Over the last few days its warmed up quite a bit and at last I can see things begin to take off.

Here is a quick run down of the karting last weekend. It was a big disappointment. Scott and Grant had done a heap of preparation and on the day everything was looking good. For some strange reason the race day only consisted of two heats and the final.
Race 1 - Scott got taken out (run over) by another kart on the first corner. He eventually managed to get unstuck and finished the race last.
Race 2 - great competition, Scott finished 3rd behind two very fast karts, a great race.
Final - Scott got hit by another kart that spun out near to him, first corner yet again! Kart damaged and parked up for the rest of the race.

It was very disappointing after all the anticipation, still, I guess that's racing. The kart was pretty bashed up, Grant says he can get it all straightened out without to much cost. They had a big rear bumper installed as per the new regulations but are reconsidering the style. The plastic one is a bit large and seems to be more of a target for pushing and barging so I think that a different one will be appearing for the next race. Scott also has a new number "54" the old one was taken in the senior class.
Other than that everything's fine!


OK I'm off to bed now, just gone midnight and I've got to be up at 6am. Not sure where the time goes and the place looks like a bombs gone off. Guess I'll be busy tomorrow!
Love and Hugs to you all!!

Credits:
Xmas Parcel - Paper is from Happy Christmas by Robyn England at ScrapArtist
Hearts from Dragonfly Dreams by Helen Parkinson
Font is Kwekel
Kart Race - Built Tough kit by Amber Clegg
Journal Stamp from RAD Refresh by Kim Christensen (both ScrapArtist)
Quote by Kate Teague
Font is Milk & Cereal

Finally some Photos

Well blogger is driving me crazy, been trying to do this post all day. Anyway, time to give you an idea of how the weekend went.
The rain mucked things up considerably, Scott just got the one practice in on Saturday before it got too wet. That meant further practicing and the qualifying had to be done before racing on Sunday. Everything was going well on Sunday, after two rounds Scott qualified 9th (in the middle). Not as good as he wanted but it was a learning curve working out how to do some very fast laps with slower karts around.
The first race, everyone was in the collecting area for the grid and the rain came down in buckets. Everyone got the chance to change tyres (luckily, otherwise it would have been a real mess). Scott got Grant to slip a cover over the spark plugs just before he went out and that really helped as a lot of the others had problems with the water. Scott started well back but easily passed everyone he came to. We lost track of his position and thought he was just passing back markers but he ended up with the chequered flag!
His next races went well, he was consistent and didn't get caught up in any collisions.
For the final everything went smoothly again, the winner pulled out a good lead but it was close racing between the others. The flag marshall accidentally let the race go an extra lap and Scott got up to 4th but unfortunately that move didn't count.
Scott has a nice smooth style of racing, very clean and controlled. He has a few things to work on and we have some training lined up for him. He won some decent prize money so that went towards the costs and it didn't end up hugely expensive. It was nice to be able to hand the kart back in excellent condition at the end. Grant and Scott make a really good team, Scott is getting more involved with the mechanical side and is beginning to help Grant out. They enjoyed the Biland, found it a bit finicky to start at times but very quick. Scott did his fastest ever lap times. No more racing planned, probably till after Christmas.

Grant had a day off today and we both did a bit of work in the garden. He oiled the outdoor furniture and got some bougainvilleas planted in my big pots and I did all the smaller pots (planted 4 doz annuals) and trimmed back the big grasses - and cut my thumb on the new pruning shears (very very sharp!) So our little garden is looking rather neat now and with all the rain it should be nice for Christmas.

I'm feeling a bit better, Jake is still sneezing and coughing and Scott recons he is next in line. Hopefully we will get these bugs over and done with soon!

Credits: Above - Background, Chaos by Maya and elements, It's a Guy Thing by Doris Castle both at Scrapbook Graphics
Top of post Background and brads as above. Alpha - Art Trash Alpha Dumster Diving also by Maya. Font, Swissmade.

Scott 5th Place

What a great day Scott had, I will go into the details tomorrow but just wanted to pass on how well Scott did before I go to bed.
Scott got 5th place in the juniors, a fantastic effort. He was the fastest UAE junior, which was his wish, and we are very proud of his overall performance.
And no accidents!!

Track Closed Early

Just a quick post - events today were stopped early as the track could not be properly cleared of water. There were areas that had dangerous pools of water. This should be improved by tomorrow and also the weather is expected to clear. The timetable tomorrow will now be very busy, starting at 8AM and most likely not ending until 8PM. Scott only got one practice in today, however, his times were reasonable. I will be back tomorrow evening with the results.

It's RAINING!

Typical, it's a wet, windy and cold day here today. Scott and Grant have just left for the track.
Yesterday they had a long day getting the kart sorted. It's brand new (they all are), all the junior karts had the wrong sprocket thingy (no technical stuff here) and changing them over made the program very late. The track is well set out, all the countries have their own area's in the Parc Ferme (closed pit area) I made some stickers for Scott with the U.A.E. flag and his name. He has kart #84, they were allocated in a lottery yesterday.
Today is free practice all morning, then the main briefing followed by more free practice. They get their race tyres at 4pm and have qualifying between 5-6pm.
Tomorrow is a full day, races in the morning and the pre-finals and finals after lunch.
What about this rain!!!! Scott is in the biggest fleet of his life, in a new kart (4 stroke, so it's not like the rotax) and then it rains..... no, he's never driven in the wet before! It only rains 2-3 times a year here in the desert and it sure is nice but the timing is a bit rough.
Anyway, later today Jake and I will go to the track for the qualifying so we will have another update tonight. bye for now!

1st Place at Al Ain

Scott did it!!!!!!
After a series of mishaps, when all looked lost, Scott's single minded determination saw him through to a win in the Rotax RMC Middle East Finals Juniors). On the completely new and very excellent track at Al Ain Scott battled it out with some great competitors. It was a wonderful weekend, large classes and lots of V.I.P's. We are all very tired but I could not go to sleep tonight without posting this!
I think I will let you know all the details with a few more photos tomorrow, I'm not exactly sharp at the moment. We didn't get back to our hotel till 3AM, it was bliss to have a hot shower then slip into bed. Grant and Scott slept in until 11.30AM - luckily we didn't have to be out of our room till 12.00! Poor Grant has to work night shift tonight and the boys and I are off to bed in a couple of minutes.
So I will be back tomorrow - I promise

Broke Down House

I didn't intend to be away for so long, Scott keeps asking if I have posted the latest news from his last race meeting.
Time to get you all up to date -
Well, the last kart meeting was a real corker! Scott was flying, the kart was great, competition was mixed but Scott had some great battles, getting amazing starts but ending up finishing second (that's a mighty fine effort for a newbie!)
Grant and Scott are settling into a great team and are both having a blast.

Jake has been to two rugby practice sessions, fitness is a problem but he's getting there! He had a great time practicing tackling and was flying through the air. Jake has made a great start to the year at school. He is getting used to taking to laptop to the Dyslexia Unit and will gradually be using it in class. He loves his teacher and is so full of enthusiasm. I just hope he gets the results that he needs and progresses on to college here. We are keeping a very close eye on his work and his teachers are very supportive.

I have been getting used to my new schedule and this year it's actually pretty good - excellent in fact! I do have a fair bit of waiting around but at least I'm not having to make any extra trips back to the school in the middle of the day. Saves on petrol and my stress levels.

Grant is super busy but that's how he likes it. He is either at work, working on the kart or fixing up this place! A beer and BBQ at the end of the day is the height of relaxation for him.

We have had more than our fair share of breakdowns over the last week. It's been one thing after another. I was putting together a scrapbook page of everything just for fun and Scott call's out that there is water everywhere from the top balcony, what a sight, I had to get under it all to try and turn the irrigation system off, I was fully dressed and got soaked to the skin!

The really bad thing though was Scott spraining his ankle. It is quite bad. I took him the the hospital on Friday night because he went into shock and we were afraid that it may have been broken. Luckily the Xrays were clear, the doctor says no sport for three weeks. Scott tells me that kart racing is a passion not a sport and he will be out on the track for the racing this weekend. He has had two days off school because he can't walk on it so we will have to see how it heals. Grant may be in the kart yet!

I will now try to post some scrapbook photo pages. I will do a separate post just in case I have problems with blogger.

I will be back after the weekend racing.

Scott's 3rd Race Meeting

The last couple of weeks have been a real challenge for Scott, plenty of problems getting the kart ready and almost no time to practice. Very frustrating!
Grant has been doing his best and loads of people involved in karting here have been helping out with great advise and help. Its so nice that the atmosphere here is really supportive and so encouraging to the newbees.
The end result is what it's all about and Scott did just great. 2nd out of 3 juniors and as the numbers were again low the class was combined with the seniors. Scott and the first place getter were even overtaking a couple of the seniors. Despite the low turnout Scott's times were very fast! The kart was totally reliable and he had no incidents.
Next week is a different meeting at the new Autodrome track and there will be two new Rotax Junior karts present so the class will rise to 5. Still low really but its just starting up here and hopefully it won't take to long to get the numbers up.
I will post a couple of pictures if I can, as you can see this blog looks a little different and I have upgraded to the Blogger Beta which is unfortunately having problems with photo uploading.
I have also taken down the last few photos posted. The size was a bit to big and it was mucking things up a bit.
Let me know if you have any problems with comments etc.
BTW you will notice how different the kart looks now. The new graphics are excellent and Grant added new pods of the latest design.