every May in Charlotte, we are reminded that we are a bit of a NASCAR hub. a few weeks ago, the most interesting group descended upon Charlotte for the NRA convention and the grand opening of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. To some of your disappointment, i hid inside. i read the paper of Sarah Palin, Chuck Norris, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. addressing the crowds. i saw the RV's and other fancy cars parked all over our center city and we hid out in Wilmore. 85,000 came to town for these two events. scary. on so many levels. anywho, last weekend, we decided to join in on the fun. Stephen's mom came in town and after treating us to so many things offered us a chance for a date night. so we took the light rail uptown and we went out to eat at this place called Aria. We decided that the whole day would be a concerted effort for both us to be complain free and then that evening we committed to light heartedness. and it actually worked. Speed Street is the center city festival that goes on for a few days leading up to the Coca-Cola 600 - the many characters cruising the streets inspired us to create funny false stories and names that made us laugh. we ate a fabulous meal, i tried two Italian wine blends that I had never heard of before, and we ordered each thing one at a time and order things we had never ordered before and took our time eating it. Then we went and walked Speed Street. It was nothing short of interesting. AFter passing Pat Benatar performing on the first stage, we held hands and walked up and down the Speed Street passing by all sorts of peeps. I've known for years mullets were not okay but the short shorts we saw this year brought a whole new meaning to daisy dukes. anyway, the point is, we laughed. we felt refreshed and we enjoyed one another very simply. and i am so thankful.