Moved Again

Hello there, readers, followers & lurkers.  I have moved my blog again :)  Well, I haven't actually 'moved', but rather, I have started a new blog. Just felt like the thing to do. So.....if you wish to read, follow or lurk, just go here

Yankee Chick 2

Everyone is welcome to read my blog.  I would prefer not to have any lurkers that read so they can report in to those that want to know what is happening, but don't want me to see their visit in my stats.  That can never be avoided, however, so I'm just not going to give a flying fig! There will always be lurkers.  Knock yourself out!  Hee hee

Skylights and Google Reader

I just realized that I didn't even enter a title for yesterdays post.  That's okay.....the 3 or 4 of you that read me don't mind, now do you?!

I just did a sad thing and went thru my Google Reader and deleted all the old blogs that I used to read, but for what ever reason the bloggers have quit writing.  I really miss a lot of these people and wonder what is happening in their lives these days.  Many of them are on FaceBook, so I keep in touch there.  I do love FaceBook, but it's no substitute for a blog.  I mean, it  IS if you have a very busy life and trying to blog was just too much to keep up with.  I have let that happen a whole lot the past year or two and the bad thing about that is that ones readership drops off.  Funnily (neener) enough, I have 26 people 'following' me on Reader, but I sure don't have that many people show up in my stats!  Most of them are probably some of the same ones that I just deleted.  LOL

My trip to San Diego was such a delightful change from my usual dreary and relatively isolated life, that I will probably be writing tid bits about my adventures  for quite some time!  Last night while I was replying to a comment that Indiana Terri left, I had made mention of trying to photograph Poolie's posters without the glare from the skylights.  Later I got thinking about our 2nd day there, when I finally decided to ask Poolie what I was doing wrong with the bathroom lights.  I asked her to go in with me and show me the mystery of why it seems so bright in there sometimes and other times, it is pretty dim.  She took me in, showed me the light switch, flicked it on and with a flourish of her hand, showed me that the lights over the sink did, indeed, come on.  I pointed to the ceiling and asked (like the dumb ass Yankee that I am) "what about that light?  it was much brighter earlier!"  As she burst into that delightful laugh that I (usually) love so much, the 'light bulb' in my wee leedle brain went on......and we simultaneously announced that it was a skylight!  O.M.G!!! 

That pretty much sums it up as to why they keep me around, doesn't it?!?  They are the "Larrys" and I am "my brother Darryl and my other brother, Darryl".  And if all y'all are too young to remember the Bob Newhart Show and have no idea what I'm talking about....well......just let Carlton the Doorman show you out! This Yankee isn't the brightest bulb in the box (especially under a skylight, at night) but by God, we won the fookin' war!!!  So there!

And for those of you that would like a bit of a longer trip down memory lane


I almost forgot!  My visit to the Cardio Vascular Center at the hospital here in Rogers yesterday was the usual fiasco.  Yet another reminder of why I drive an hour each way to doctors and the hospital in Fayetteville!  Anyway, once I FINALLY got to the place I needed to be and got signed in, I had the prettiest, bitchiest twit do the tests that my foot doctor ordered.  Holy Crap!  This chick was something else.  The tests were simple enough.  I had to lay on a table and she wrapped the calves of my legs with mondo blood pressure cuff type things and then stuck electrode thingys on my arms and feet and ankles....all whilst 'listening' to my legs.  (Yeah.  That's what I thought!)  Okay, this went on for several minutes while the machine I was connected to was emitting all sorts of bizarre sounds (that were apparently coming from my legs).  Since my spinal fusion, I can't lay flat on my bad very long without becoming extremely uncomfortable.  One of the ways of relieving the discomfort is to bend one,or both, of my legs up.  While she was getting out some more apparatus to attach to my toes, I bent my left leg up just a little, for a moment of relief.  Holy crap!  She turned around and SLAMMED my leg back down on the table and in a very ugly tone told me that I had to keep my legs flat!  Whoa there girly girl!! I rose up off that table and told her that she better not do THAT again!  Told her that leg is attached to a hip that desperately needs replacing and that in the past 2 years I have had a spinal fusion and the other hip replaced and it's pretty damn hard to lay flat on her stupid table while she dicks around!  (yes, I said that) And I told her that is she doesn't finish soon, that my left leg will begin spasming and there's nothing I can do about it!.  She backed down and was all apologetic.  Asked me what happened and if I'd been in an accident or something.  She had me so po'd that I lied.....but it sounded great.  I told her that my horse threw me about 3 years ago.  Hahahaha.  Heck, that's what most people assume happened and it sure sounds better than the truth of falling off my NoridTrac ski machine and landing on a paint can!  Anywho......I should find out in a few days if my toes are gonna fall off or not.  I sure hope not, cuz I'm clumsy enough as it is!

Yankee Chick is back!

I will probably spend this evening making some changes to my page, just to freshen it up a bit.  I almost decided to go back to WordPress, but decided to stay here.  But then, what did I discover but they have changed everything here since I last posted.  So much for sticking with current familiarity!  Eeeep!

One of the things I wanted to do, was to import my posts from Mama Monroe so that I could just delete that.  However!  The instructions they give you to do that, apply to the old version and not the new and unimproved version.  Geez, Google!  Get your poop in a group!!  I won't fuss with that just now, but will work on updating my Pages and pictures and 'stuff'.  I'll get back to that another time.

Here's the Deal

I think I need to change my identity.  I need to revert back to the whole Yankee Chick scenario.  I was trying to start fresh a few months ago by blending my Mama Monroe persona with the blog thing, and it's just not right.  It doesn't work for me.  Mama Monroe is my Roller Derby name and Roller Derby is all about my family and Alaska friends.  I will always be Yankee Chick and in the World of Blog, I need to return to that.

Not that there won't be much ado in my blog regarding Roller Derby....there certainly will!! And although there will be much redundancy between FaceBook and my blog, the bulk of my FB friends and posts revolve around Derby and Mama Monroe type stuff.  It's hard to explain, so I'll stop trying.  Suffice to say, Yankee Chick is back....and it might involve a move, to either a new blog or back to my old one.  I'll probably figure that out tonight, and steer y'all in the right direction.

In fact, now that I've informed you of this decision....I think I'll go play around and will let you know what I decide :-)

Poolie Sent Me

Yes she did, indeed.  I'd pretty much given up on this whole blog thing, but it does still haunt me  I mean, the urge is still there.......is there a Viagra for blogging???  Hahahaha  Maybe now that I'm getting close to the end of some rough times, I can find more upbeat things to write about.  I felt that all my posts have become negative, but my life has been pretty damn negative for quite some time.  That is simply the way of it!

I do have some upcoming events that will certainly put a positive spin on things and I do need to write about them, right??

First up is my trip to San Diego next month, to spend a week with Poolie and Terri T.  It's been 2 years since we were last together and it's high time to meet up again! 

After that, I will be going to Alaska for a month. Leaving April 20th and returning May 23rd.  I totally can't wait for that!!!  There will be love and hugs and roller derby and fun and movies and fun food and roller derby and hugs and more love and more roller derby and exciting stuff!!!!!!!!


And THEN, on June 11th, I will have my long awaited surgery.  Bionic hip #2 and after my recovery from that, I am hoping and praying and wishing for a far better quality of life than I have had in 3 years!  Or has it been 4???  Too freakin long, that's for damn sure!

So, this is a start.......I will elaborate more on those things and other stuff as well, in the days to come.  I have lots of Roller Derby news and pictures to share.....and I'm sure I'll come up with other things.....I just know it.  And I need to do some new pictures and some tidying up around this here blog page, too.  See ya soon!

New Blog

I've been faltering in the blogging arena for quite some time now and my good friend Terri, from Indiana, has talked me into starting 'fresh' to see if this helps get me back in the groove. I thought I'd start this AM with a short post, that will help me to get my template set up and then I'll write more later. I'll be sending invites out to my old and faithful blog buddies to let them know about my new spot in life and hope that there are still a few that are interested and/or blogging themselves!

START THE NEW YEAR RIGHT!

I'm going to start the New Year off right......by being ME. I have had a few people tell me that they miss the way I used to write in my blog. Well, so do I! I used to love blogging. Writing and reading the blogs of others. During the past couple of years, there have been some incidents that have severely changed all that for me.

At one time, I had quite a few pretty darn good blog buddies and I enjoyed them all immensely. That list has seriously dwindled and there are so many reasons for it. Wrong reasons, and that's just sad.

Some have just quit blogging and I really miss the interaction and daily happenings in their lives. Out of those folks, some of us stay in touch on FaceBook and via email and texting. That's a good thing.

Some of them have been judgmental (even tho' they deny it) and have simply dropped me because they don't like the way I 'tell it like I see it'. I typically tend to be pretty outspoken when I feel strongly about something. That's just me and if someone doesn't like it, they have only to turn away. It's not necessary to send me scathing emails or to tear me to shreds in their own blog. Just go away and maybe ASK me to do the same. I will respect that.

Back before I had met any bloggers in person, I let myself get sucked in by some folks that led me to believe that we were 'real friends'. I have no idea what their agenda was at the time, but I am gullible enough to let that happen from time to time and as a result, I got involved in a major "rescue/flame war" that cost me many friends in the blogging community. But at the time, I thought I was doing the right thing and I thought I was being a good friend to someone that needed me. What a joke THAT all turned out to be. And how quickly they forget. A very dear friend and I BOTH got our feathers burned over that ridiculous scenario, but hey! We did what we thought was right at the time and it sadly turned around and bit us in the ass.

Another time, I had the opportunity to meet some folks in 3D. I found out that one can NOT always tell what a person is really like from reading a daily blog for several years. When you meet some people in person, you can find yourself thinking "holy crap! If I had to work with this person, I'd have to find another job! I couldn't do it." Or, "man, if this person was my neighbor, I'd have to put up a 10 foot privacy fence and hope it would be enough to keep them out cuz they drive me batty!". And I am well aware and well informed that I, myself, had a similar effect on other people. Heh. I have to laugh because the whole time, I thought all was well with a couple of these people, when in fact I was apparently getting on their nerves. Hahahahaha. That pleases me NOW. Right down to my rotten core.

It takes me awhile to get to know someone well enough to be 'comfortable' with them. Either online or in person. But when you think you are at that comfort level from an online relationship, but find 'warning signals' going off when you meet in person.....just don't bother wasting your time trying too hard to make it 'work', cuz the joke will be on you!

BUT!! The fact of the matter IS, we are all adults and as amazing as it may seen to some people.......it's okay if we meet and just can not be best friends to the end! It's okay. I don't like you after all, so let's just get on with it and get over it. No need to be nasty, just walk away. Kinda like a blind date, ya know?

BUT!!!! It's TOTALLY awesome when you DO meet someone that you have been blog buddies with for years and they ARE all that and a bag of chips!!! They are out there, people and I have met a couple that have warmed my heart and changed my life and I wouldn't trade them for the world! From the time we first met, it was like we had always known each other and from there it only got better!

One of them is so different from me in so many ways, I was afraid I would be grossly intimidated when I met her. Wondrously, there are so many levels to so many people, that we immediately found our niche; blended and settled in for one of those 'forever' friend relationships that will only get better as time goes by. My word! We disagree SO vehemently on some things, it is simply amazing. But we have so much respect for each other and so much other great stuff to share, that it matters not one little bit!! That's a real friend, folks!

Boy, there is one out there that I used to adore! I thought she was the greatest and bravest most out going, honest and true person I had ever encountered! Through the years I came to find out that if you don't walk like her, talk like her and wipe your ass like her......well then, you are just wrong, Wrong, WRONG! She has gotten in my face a few times because of my opinions and 'outspoken-ness'....ahem...and we mended fences, but the last time I set her off, she went balls to the wall ballistic on me and I decided (with the help of another one of her victims) to just leave it alone. To her I say, 'what ever blows your shirt up, bitch. go for it'.

Sometimes it seems like there is no end to it. Sometimes it's just that some people can't let go. Me??? I am trying to just let it go. There are more important things for me to stress over. Now if some of these other people would get a life, quit visiting my blog whilst blocking their IP (like who gives a flying f%$#) and just leave us folks alone they might find that they too have more important things to stress over.

I am hoping that as the New Year rolls in, I will find my blogging Mojo once again and begin to once again write more things of interest! Goodnight all y'all!

Blogrolls, Happy Horses and Progress

So how do you feel about Blogrolls??  I have asked this before and many of you like them because it provides you with an easy link to other bloggers, as well as a means to discover some new reads.  I like them for that reason, as well.  Typically I will read someone's blog if I see them leave interesting comments and check them out via the comment.

But what if......someone has a blogroll and it is quite obvious that they keep it updated, because you see new names go up and others go off, rather frequently.........but you're not on it.  Maybe it's someone that you have been blog buds with since you began blogging and you have had your ups and downs with thru the years, but thought all was well.  How much time should pass before it really hurts your feelings?

I can be......okay, I AM a rather controversial person and I don't blame some folks for not reading me.  But then again, I don't write like I used to.  Subject manner has drastically changed, which no doubt turned some away, cuz they like dirt.  Sometimes, I really feel that because of past 'issues' and the fact that they were so verbal and public about it, they are literally ashamed to have "Yankee Chick" in their blogroll!  Some of these folks still read me and I them and comments are left by both.  So, I don't get it.

Personally, I took my blogroll down the other day.  I have always liked having one because I like for people to have access to some of the cool blogs I read and to see who our mutual reads might be, and so forth.  But, in light of a recent 'dust up' (a phrase I loathe, but seems appropriate since it wasn't really a 'flame war') I decided to take it down until I do some reorganizing.  There is no point in having blogs listed that you: 1) no longer read. 2) no longer want to refer your friends to or 3) have no desire to be connected to.
So, yeah.....I guess I will now be one of those that just might fall into the category of being ashamed to have people on my blogroll as I wouldn't care for some of my readers to stumble upon some of their postings.  (Cuz I'm so fu%&*ng perfect, dontchaknow!!)

In other news, the farrier was here this AM and fixed sweet little Dixie's feet up again.  He was very impressed with how well she is going and didn't expect her progress to be as far advanced as it it.  Since he hasn't seen her for 3 weeks, he could also see that she is, indeed, losing weight and said that whatever we are doing, keep it up cuz she's doing great!  Susie got a 'manicure' and new shoes today and she is all frisky and happy, too.  

Only problem is, I thought he was coming tonight, not this AM, so my freshly showered self is now covered with horse kiss slobber and sweat.  Gotta help catch them and hold them, ya know.  I'm just glad I was able to help. This is how I realize the progress I am making since my surgery....by realizing that I have just done something that I wasn't able to do a month ago or 6 months ago or even a year ago!  I love it.  Even 3 weeks ago, I wouldn't even have attempted to go out in the pasture and try to catch Susie, let alone put a lead on her and walk her out to his truck.  Yes....walking out and back and following her around hurt a bit, but certainly not enough to stop me!  And leading her with her lead rope, tugging on her resisting self, didn't seem to strain my back muscles.  It's all good.  Damn good!!

Kickin' A$$

I went to Physical Therapy this morning and J (my sweet and awesome Therapist) decided that since today marked 10 weeks Post-Surgery, she wanted to analyze my flexibility and range of motion.  The results were much better than she anticipated and I am totally jazzed!!  Next week she is going to go over with me what housework I can start doing and give me tips on how to do it.  Darn! 

The great thing is that I have had very little pain this past week.  More yesterday afternoon and evening and this AM that during the past few days and I know that it is a result of spending too much time in my computer chair messing with this blog.  I have tried everything to make this chair more conducive to my condition, but all attempts have failed. I really need a different chair. I know that I can not sit in one place, especially if I am sitting incorrectly, for more than 1/2 and hour to an hour.  Need to move around, walk some, do stuff, sit in a different chair, etc..  She did bump me up to 15 minutes on the Step machine, so I'll be doing that everyday for sure, before the kids arrive on the 18th.  It really is helping my walking so hopefully by then I will be able to walk farther and stand longer!! 

So....about the Blog.  I added a Blog Roll, but right now all I have on it are pretty much people that I know, or am pretty sure still read me.  I know that some of you have Blog Rolls and some of you don't.  What are your reasons for having or not having one???  I, personally, like going to someone's page and seeing "Yankeechick" on their Blog Roll.  Makes me feel good.  Connected, ya know?!?  What do you say???

Good Morning from Blogger!

Well, then.  Let's get this new show on the road!  I love this template and am all into the 'chocolate and pink' thing, so this is perfect.  I was going to go for my all time favorite 3 column version, but I think for now I will stick to the 2 column.  Maybe it won't look so cluttered around here :)

My first order of business this morning was to find a new 'comment' format other than the one that comes with this template.  Amazingly enough, that took about 2 minutes and even less time to install! This is rather disturbing, as my luck doesn't typically run so smooth......especially at 8:00 AM, when I'm just awakening (after having gotten up at 6:45) and only 1/2 way thru my 2nd cup of coffee!  Either the rest of my day is going to go in the toilet, or it will be exceptionally good, as well!   I pick "exceptionally good"

How bad can it be when my second stroke of good luck came mere moments after posting a test post to try my comments and K~Lo appeared to be my first Guest Comment Tester!  Yay!!! Thanks, Kathy!!

Mayhaps this is what I needed to get my blogging mojo juiced up again.  For one thing, I love that there are so many great options out there for templates for Blogger!  I got this one from The Cutest Blog on the Block and they certainly have some awesome and fun things available.  There are many others, as well, but I have been drawn to this particular template for a very long time, plus they have so many helpful tips and extras.
I think I should dive right in and post some pictures and maybe a video and see how smoothly that goes!  Stand by.

Well, the first one isn't that great cuz it's tiny and fuzzy, but you can still get the benefit of my darling, handsome, adorable, youngest grandbaby (Xander) pretending to take his Daddy's place on his talk show.  Isn't he just too cute?!?!?!  I think I'll try a little video next.  Hmmmmm.........

Okay. Forget the video for now.  I can't find one 'suitable'.  Needs some editing first and I'll work on that later.

Man!  It was supposed to be hot and sunny all day today, but the sky is turning black and I hear thunder rumbling off in the distance.  The black clouds seem to be traveling at warp speed, however, so they may pass over before they spring a leak.

On the medical front, I am pleased to report that I have been feeling much improved these past 3 or 4 days!  For the last 1 1/2 weeks I have been able to go to The Adult Wellness Center and use the exercise equipment there, in between PT appointments.  So far I can only use the resistance machine for strengthening my legs, gut and butt :) and then only for 10 minutes, but it is making a difference!  Everything about this is 'baby steps' but thank God I'm finally getting more benefit from it!  I'm hoping that when I go to PT tomorrow, she will tell me that I can do 15 or 20 minutes, but I doubt it.  !5, maybe.......never 20.  Too soon, I'm sure.  So, yes!  I am being good and not over-doing it, or anything else.  I'm saving myself for Timmy and Riley!  LOL

Only 10 more days!  OMG!!  I can hardly believe it!!!!!!!!!  I'll want to spend the first 2 days, at least, just hugging and kissing them!!! 

Well, I better go hit the shower and get into town for my big "work-out" at the old folks gym!  LMAO!  Let me know how you like my new place!