Reclaiming the Mojo

Henri in racecar
Henri in racecar

Henri and I have been married for eight going on nine years and St. Patrick’s Day was the 13th anniversary of our first date.

We used to be the daredevil couple.  One of the first gifts I bought him was a lesson to fly a helicopter.  Together we went paragliding, rode ATVs through the Mexican dessert, and swam in a waterfall after hiking the Na Pali Coast.

Then we got married.

Then we had kids.

Then we started our own business.

I gained weight.  He lost his sense of humor.  We were on the dreadmill of married life working long hours, shuffling kids to birthday parties and forgetting why we liked each other so much in the first place.

Pretty much every married couple we know can relate to that feeling of gaining a terrific family life but losing some of yourself in the process.  And yet…

We are reclaiming the mojo!  I found a sport I love (bodybuilding,) lost the weight and started blogging.

And now that our business is getting in check, Henri is getting back to the things he loves, the things that made him interesting and fun.

This weekend as a belated birthday gift I treated him to the Rusty Wallace Racing Experience.   It was fantastic!

We had been given an entire packet explaining the process, but were a little tentative about how it really would be, considering my recent quirky skydiving experience where there were llamas on the runway.  (It’s an odd little story; you can read about it here:  Llamas on the Runway, Whaa?)

Welcome Race Fans
Welcome Race Fans

Anyway, from start to finish this entire experience was fun, professional and something we would recommend to other adrenaline junkies.   We drove to the San Antonio Speedway and signed in.  There was a pretty decent crowd and everyone was joking with each other.

One of the purchase options (in addition to things like a DVD, sweatshirt, and those kinds of things) was a $60 insurance upgrade limiting your liability to just $1,000 if you happen to wreck a car while driving.

I cannot state this clearly enough:  GET THE $60 INSURANCE UPGRADE.

Why do I state this so strongly?  Because someone hit another car while we were watching in the stands.  Yikes!!   Everyone was fine and the person who got hit got back on the track in a different car, but still…

Oh!  Crash!
Oh! Crash!

Here is a little picture of one of the wrecked cars.   Everyone drove a little slower after that.   Each driver had two options:  drive a car by yourself or travel as a passenger with a pro racer.  Guess which option Henri chose?

“Henri, just because you can drive 140 mph and pass other cars doesn’t mean you have to do that,” I preempted before he started his class.

“Uh huh.”  He’s totally not listening to me.

Teaching how to be a badass driver
Teaching how to be a badass driver

Then it was off to speedracer class where they would learn how to be a badass NASCAR driver.  Henri was like a schoolboy, sitting right in the middle, right in the front row.  All drivers would be wearing one-way earphones on the track and they would be told when to pass other cars and when they could speed up.

The group of mostly men and one or two women crossed the track and then got their red driving suits and black helmets.  I was sitting in the stands with everyone else.  A lot of people were celebrating birthdays and crossing off their bucket lists.

And...they're off!
And…they’re off!

And…they’re off!  (Oh, forgot to mention that Henri got in trouble because he revved up his engine to get started before he was supposed to.  Since I mention the many and varied things I get called out for on this blog it only seems fair to mention when he gets busted.  Ha ha.)

During the 10 laps around the speedway Henri managed to pass every single car at least once.  When he finished he was beaming ear to ear.  It was fun to see him so happy again.

Tami & Henri
Tami & Henri

We weren’t going to, but ended up buying a plaque…and a DVD…and…um…a sweatshirt too.  What can I say?  Tami was a super awesome salesperson and Henri wanted to remember this experience for a while.

So if driving is your dream, I highly recommend the Rusty Wallace Racing Experience.  (No, I’m not getting paid to write this.)

How about you?  If you’re in a rut what do you do to get your mojo back?

Go Speed Racer!  Go!
Go Speed Racer! Go!

Lisa

Sheslosingit.net (c) 2013 Lisa Traugott.  All rights reserved.  No portion of this blog, including any text, photographs, and artwork, may be reproduced or copied without written permission.

 

4 thoughts on “Reclaiming the Mojo

  1. How cool! My boss is an amateur race car driver and we got to watch him race at the F1 track a week ago. We got crew passes (good thing I didn’t actually have to do anything;-)) It would have been fun to get in a car though.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *