I just wanted to wish you all a Happy New year! Hope things look up for everyone in ’09 and that you all had a wonderful Christmas too.

I thought I would share the picture I used for my Christmas card this year of my dog Frankie and I with Santa. In case you were wondering if this was all a joke, I am not seriously this dorky. I took him last year when he was a puppy because I thought it would be funny, but everyone else thought it was cute. So cute, in fact, that the next day there was a picture of him sitting on Santa’s lap in the Cheboygan Tribune, the same newspaper that told me back in 2005 that they couldn’t do a story on me because it would take up too much room and it was more important to cover middle school football. I love my small town, but it seems to be a little backwards some times. For some reason winning a national championship is no big deal, but a dog on Santa’s lap? Now that’s news! To make it worse, this Fall I got a phone call asking if the humane society could use Frankie’s picture again in this year's advertisement for “Get your pets picture with Santa day.” I agreed and the day before the “event” my mom came home from the grocery store laughing. It seems they were putting flyers up with Frankie’s face plastered on it in everyone’s grocery bags. My puppy is now more famous in my hometown than I am!

Being a rider has given me the opportunity to travel and see the world. At this point in my life I love the non-stop action, and never being in one place for too long. It’s tiring at times, but it never gets boring. I wouldn’t trade it for anything and there are really only a few things that make me wonder what it would be like to stay in one place for any extended amount of time, and seeing my family is one of these things. Another one though is being able to make plans and guarantee my attendance. I hardly know what I am going to do tomorrow let alone a month from now.

Such a busy schedule has kept me from volunteering. Go ahead and laugh, but I do enjoy doing things for others. When I was younger I used to go with my Grandma’s to a retirement home and help the residents play bingo. Most of the people never had any visitors and the hour we spent there every Wednesday was the highlight of their day or even week. One lady in particular took a liking to me and would make me sit with her every time. We usually would talk the whole time and not even pay attention to the game. She had Alzheimer’s so bad that she kept calling me by her granddaughter’s name, but it didn’t matter to me. It made her so happy to have a visitor I just let her call me whatever she wanted. It’s been over 13 years now and just thinking about her still brings a smile to my face.

Growing up I used to be so involved in my church, I would read every reading I could, act in every play, and when that wasn’t enough, we would come up with new skits. One time I was playing the role of a frazzled wife who burnt her husband’s birthday cake. The pastor’s wife was in the back with a cake pan and to make it look realistic we burned paper and then blew it out so it would be smoking when I brought it out. It went really well in the first service, but during the second service we used too much paper and it got a little out of hand. Let’s just say the carpet needed to be replaced right after and they never let us play with fire in church again.

I was brought up with a strong sense of doing for others, but the last five or six years I have only been able to volunteer at FCA camps and read at the Christmas Eve service. Since I am home this entire month, when an opportunity to volunteer came up. I was happy to do it. Last Friday was my church’s day to ring bells at the shops downtown for Salvation Army. All the money goes to local people in need so it’s really worth it, and not even a lot of work involved. All I had to do was stand outside for two hours in temperatures hovering around zero (that’s Fahrenheit, not Celsius), ring a bell and wish people a Merry Christmas. Now you may call me a sucker but I cant walk by a homeless person on the street without wanting to give them something, and I always put something in the pot even if its just loose change. That’s why I was so astonished at the amount of people who would comment on how cold I looked and then just walk right on by. Obviously if I am willing to stand out in the freezing cold and get sick, it’s for a good cause, right?

Anyways I just wanted to remind everyone that as bad as the economy is, you are still sitting some place warm in front of a computer right now, and there are others who have it much worse. Sometimes the smallest gesture or just a few dollars can do more than you will ever know, and it is the season for giving.

Since January of this year until the end of the race season I had spent less then 3 weeks total at home with my family. For someone who cherishes family as much as me, it can get pretty lonely and if it weren’t for my other two “families,” the Hausers and the Jungs out in California, I’m not sure what I’d do. But since I have been home for a couple of months (only taking a few trips here and there), and I have been able to spend some good quality time with those closest to me.

After losing one of my Grandmothers, who was my biggest fan and supporter, last year at this time, I have been making a point to visit my other set of Grandparents as much as possible. I love listening to my Grandpa tell stories from when he was a kid and getting into trouble. Just last week I helped my Grandma bake four pies for Thanksgiving. Like most Grandmas, she’s like James Stewart in a kitchen, and I am like the guy who can’t let out the clutch in order to take off. It definitely took longer than it would have if she had just made them herself, but she was patient with me and it was great to learn from a pro. I swear if I could live on just her apple pie, I would. It is that good.

I have also been trying to play the supportive sister role since my brothers are always so supportive of me. My older brother Terry, who shattered his femur a few years ago, has veered away from his motocross roots and started racing off road. Although I tease him endlessly for his big gas tank (I’m embarrassed to drive in a truck with it in the back), I have to admit that in the one race I did with him, it sucked having to make a pit stop for gas. And while I have been able to beat him on a motocross track for quite some time now, he has really adapted to the woods and can finally beat me at something again. A lesser man would have been mad that even though he smoked me that day, people were still coming over for my autograph. But he just waited for the drive home to ask me to hold his trophy every time I opened my big mouth (I didn’t get a trophy that day). We went to his awards banquet a couple weeks ago and I didn’t even give him (much of) a hard time about driving for 3 hours and sitting for 4 and not even get an award myself. Now I know why I can never find a date to any of my awards banquets (yes, I’m blaming it on them being so boring). All joking aside I really am proud of him and was happy to be there for him.

Now Ben, my younger brother, hates bikes and would rather get punched in the face than race, literally. He had his first two MMA fights this fall and it has been so great training with him and going to watch. Though I must say I was more nervous watching him than I have ever been while sitting on any starting line in my life! He may be my little brother, but I’m not about to tease him like I do Terry, mostly because he will kick my butt if I do! I keep telling my mom that if she would have just bought us boxing gloves as kids and let us wail on each other we would have all gotten along a lot better!

So I’m sorry that I haven’t updated my blog lately, but it’s been nice to kind of sit back and enjoy my family I never get to see. I love summer time and the fast pace of race season, but nothing beats the Holidays and spending time with family!

Ever since Steel City, I’ve been up here in Michigan, laying low, bored out of my mind, and in weather that just continues getting colder. But I finally got to pack my shorts and head down to Florida to celebrate Ashley Fiolek’s 18th birthday with her. Her birthday isn’t until tomorrow (the 22nd), but we spent the weekend at the Dew Tour and Universal studios in Orlando. We spent Saturday riding roller coasters and I had to keep reminding Ashley how terrified of them she was four years ago when we went for the first time. I had to literally drag her onto her first one.

On Sunday, we went to the House of Horror night at Universal, where instead of going on rides we stood in line for hours to go through haunted houses. I can’t make fun of Ashley for being a wimp this time; not because she wasn’t one, but because I was just as bad! I have never claimed to be tough, and I actually think it’s more fun when you allow yourself to be scared out of your mind. I’m not afraid to admit that my knees buckled every time someone jumped out in front of me, and if Ashley wasn’t holding onto me I’d fall to the floor hard while the “ghost” who was chasing me stood over me laughing.

There were other ones who would try to sneak up behind us and snort or growl in our ears. Of course, Ashley had no idea until she saw me freak out, and then she would turn around to see some man less than an inch away from her face. It was absolutely priceless watching her scream. After just about every tour, the people who walked through behind us were still laughing and saying that watching us was more entertaining then the haunted house itself!

We weren’t allowed to take any pictures inside, so these are a couple we took during the day. I’d also like to wish my parents a happy anniversary today, and say that I’m sorry I can’t be there to help you celebrate. I haven’t been home for their anniversary for the last few years, but to be fair I wasn’t there for the first few, either...