The Race is On and Here Comes Hick Up the Backstretch

Christmas Eve dawned all picturesque and good-will inspiring. I finished up some of my pre-Christmas dinner preparations, like deviling the eggs, and wrapped a couple of final presents. The view out my kitchen window was holidayish. All that was missing was Christmas carols. I don't have a radio in the kitchen, and even though the living room TV is plenty loud enough to hear, if I had put on one of the DISH channels that plays Christmas music (saw one Christmas morning with kittens and puppies in front of a fireplace!), The Pony was watching something else. He DID take a picture for me, out the kitchen door:

You may not see the snow falling, because the flakes were small. Take my word for it. SOMETHING had to make that coating on the back deck.

The day flew by. Genius and Friend arrived around 4:45. We visited briefly, then all piled into A-Cad to attend the yearly Christmas Eve party thrown by my sister the ex-mayor's wife. As you know, games are part of the festivities. This year, we each had a Christmas cracker thingy, and inside were paper crowns, and jokes, and AN ELF. Those elves were made for racing! We had two preliminary heats, and then finals.

The pit crew got the racers ready for those of us who couldn't reach the start line. You might notice that Hick is the arm not dressed in festive Christmas colors. Or even colors suitable for a Christmas Eve party.

I was the Green Elf, and as (bad) luck would have it, Old Orange Hick was in the lane next to me. He kept giving me the bum's rush right off the track! At least I wasn't Wrong Way Blue.

The racers needed refueling by hand crank a couple times before they completed the race. So I might have had a chance, if I could have stayed on the track.

We had a photo finish. Looks like I would have been proud to be Wrong Way Blue, because that little elf redeemed herself and won our heat, making it to the semifinals against Babe (the almost-4-year-old daughter of my niece), and Babe's Daddy.

The finals came down to Wrong Way Blue and Babe's Daddy. It was a dead heat, and Babe was given the honor of breaking the tie. She chose the winner to be: "NOT YOU, Daddy!" So Wrong Way Blue took home the trophy. The purse. The special prize in a stapled-shut gift bag. It was a giant container of mixed nuts, a $9 or $10 value. Congratulations, Wrong Way Blue. Hope you don't have a nut allergy.

Old Orange Hick didn't even apologize for his moving violations. Apparently, he is also a sweaver on foot.

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Let the record show that Val and Thevictorians are leaving Wednesday morning for CasinoPalooza 3. There will be a fresh post each day, and comments answered late night or early morning. The CasinoPalooza tales themselves will be next week.

Because what happens at CasinoPalooza 3 stays in Val's head until she has time to reveal events properly.
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