What the hell happened to Flat Stanley?

Normally Flat Stanley hangs out on the fridge all day with one of his bikes riding circles around pictures, jumping over magnets and laying skid marks across bills but his annoying presence has been absent for some time now. At first I didn't realize he had gone missing and when I did I figured that he either ran away because he couldn't stand Melinda's rules and cleanliness or one of my friends decided to take him home. I didn't say anything for a while just to see if someone would say something of if he would mysteriously turn up but in all reality I kinda forgot about him but then all of the sudden there he was. Melinda was the one who actually found him or should I say what was left of him. No the dogs didn't mistake him for a chew toy. Apparently after a long ride one day Flat decided to take a nap in my jersey pocket and since the ride was a little bit harder that day he slept right through me changing clothes and into the laundry basket he went. Melinda is no slouch when it comes to laundry, she keeps it moving. I can usually find the shirt I wore yesterday hanging up clean the next evening if not sooner. Needless to say Flat went for a ride in the washing machine and it's a good thing he is a good swimmer or he might have drown. Melinda and I immediately felt bad for the poor guy and dried him out but Flat was no longer, well flat. After some thought we decided the best we could do for him was to send him on a vacation complete with a spa package in hopes that he would return to his old flat self. I got a post card from him just the other day and he says all is well and he's feeling much better these days. He told me that he needed to extend his vacation another week to make sure he is back to his old self but I think he's just milking the free vacation but it was our fault so I couldn't say no.
Anyway since the absence of Flat Stanley things have been quiet lately that is until we had another visitor. We're really not sure of the little guys name because he doesn't say much. He justs hangs out in our gardens and hides behind the trees and bushes.

I can't tell if he is just shy or mischievous but he's funny to watch and hard to keep up with since we have way too many gardens surrounding our house. He has expressed interest in traveling with us in the Eco trailer, I know this only because he seems to hang out behind it on a pretty regular basis.

The story behind this little guy is one evening we were visiting some friends Andy & Abby and Abby collects Gnomes as some sort of hobby. While we were hanging out in their backyard I kept noticing gnomes in the gardens and we asked about it. She told us about the collection and that she had boxes of gnomes inside the house stashed away in a closet. She said she really didn't know what to do with them all so most were kept in boxes. I guess they don't like to be packed away in a dark cardboard box because one of them snuck into our car that evening and came home with us. Neither Melinda nor I realized this until we found him hanging out in the garden munching on our tomatoes, and we thought we had a bug problem. After speaking to Abby about the situation she was more than happy to let us keep the little guy as long as he didn't have to stay in a cardboard box.

Like I said before we have no idea what his name is because he doesn't talk much but I'll let you know when he gives up the info.

Last night was my second round of short track racing and it was almost as fun as the first. The crowd was not as big as the last time and still the heavy hitters did not show, well not all of them. I still got lapped by 1st and 2nd but managed to hold onto 3rd place. For a few laps I was in 4th chasing Mark Prince around the course staring at the back wheel of his ridiculously light, carbon fiber Gary Fisher 29er. That was one bad machine but I think in the end the feather lightness hurt him a little on the downhills. Everytime we went down I would make up a little ground on him and I think I can credit the Mamasita and her middle of the road components for this. Being a little heavier I think she coasts a bit faster. I don't know if all the heckling I was receiving from Alan & Mike the "local cult hero" Thomas had anything to do with it but I did manage to take back my 3rd place standing and hold on to it till the end. This time instead of paying the curly headed kid my dollar in quarters I paid all in dimes. (Next time I totally plan to show up with 2 rolls of pennies.) This week the trophy was not some form of cheap malt beverage in a funny colored can but a bottle of the local liquor store's finest $4 champagne. Hey I got no complaints the entry fee is only a $1. It's a ton of fun and I wish I could make it out every week but my work schedule won't allow it. Keep up the good work guys I had fun and hope to be back in 2 weeks for another punishing 20 minute round.

Hey Mike get the blog rolling, I need something to read as well.