Daytona

Currently as I sit here watching the Rolex 24 at Daytona on Speed Channel, I come to realize that the Daytona 500 is only three weeks away.

Yet I'm not as excited as previous years.

With Emily now in the family I decided to sell my tickets to this year's 500 in order to stay home and spend more time with her in her first few months. It's turning out to be a lot harder than I thought. I always looked forward to my trek to Daytona in February to escape the snow, ice, and cold. So this year for the first time since 1998 I won't be attending festivities of Speedweeks.

Don't get me wrong - I'd rather skip Daytona than not have Emily. She's the best thing that's ever happened to us (me) but it's hard to give up something you enjoy doing. I know I will be able to do it again in the future someday. So I keep that in mind.

So this year when the green flag flies at the Daytona 500, I will be enjoying the race from my couch for the first time in 13 years. It will definitely be weird.