Why Do I Need a Title???

It's so friggin' hot here. Still. And more triple digits predicted for next week.  We need rain SO bad!  Our lawn and the pasture is so dead and dry that even Gus, our Cocker Spaniel, leaves a little cloud of dust behind him when he trots across the pasture!  You should see the cloud of dust the horses raise!!

In this shot, you can see how badly poor Gus needs a hair cut, and I took this a couple weeks ago, so you can imagine his hairy curly self now.  Also alot less green on the ground than that now, as well.

He does get to go to the groomers tomorrow, now that I can get out and about, so he'll be all sleek and fast and COOLER!

I'm happy to say that my hip is feeling great, most of the time.  It even feels normal.  Sure wish I could act and move like it's normal.  sigh..... It's really hard to keep myself from just 'doing things' when it feels normal.  But I'm not all healed yet and it's not ready to have me do all this normal stuff like bending or sitting comfortably or dancing thru the living room to the Boondock Saints theme song.  Sucks, I tell ya'!  But I try to stay focused and I improvise a LOT.  I just wish I had longer toes so it would be easier to pick up stuff that I drop.  hee hee

We've got 2 birthdays coming up this week.  My 2 baby boys, Tim and Xander!  Tim will be 11 on the 3rd and Xander will be 6 on the 5th!

Here's a great shot Terri got of them yesterday with a couple of Storm Troopers at AlaskaLand.  Pretty awesome huh?

So funny....Terri said to Xander "they look pretty scary....what if Darth Vader is near by".  Xander replied, "Mom, they're just guys in suits."  He's just so damn logical all the time, I told her she mayhaps should have named him "Spock".  LOL

Oh, yeah....an update on our toilet disaster the other day......they are fixed and all is well, however we now need to replace the ceiling in the Living Room.  I am so thankful I am married to a Contractor that has spent his whole life doing such things!  I figure it will only take him 2 or 3 years to get around to it. :-p

Roof, PT and DERBY....Oh My!

This AM I still have men banging around on my roof!  All week this has been going on and all week, my poor kitty, Murphy, has been in hiding.  She is terribly unimpressed by the noise.....as am I.  They 'say' they will finish up this AM and I sure hope so.  Murphy & I want our "little piece of quiet" back!

I thought that yesterday was my last day of Physical Therapy, but NOooOoO.......PT Dude says that I am doing so well and so far advanced with my progress, for only being 3 weeks and 5 days post-surgery that he wants to give me some more challenging exercises.  Joy, joy, happy happy. :) So, he'll be back 2 more times next week, after he checks with the good Doctor to report on me and get authorization to 'step it up'.  Actually, it's all good, especially since I'm doing so well because I'm so "young"!  Weeeeeeeeeee.  Gotta love THAT!  {and I DO.  Truly, indeed, I do!}  I ditched my walker at least a week ago and am using my cane.....when I don't walk off and forget it.  Have I already told you this?  Probably.  Sorry :-D.  I no longer have much hip pain at all.  Mostly some discomfort when I over-do it.  My back bothers more than my hip, at this point, but I am hoping that the continued exercises will strengthen my ab and back muscles and help with that.  I'm pretty sure that since I'm 1 year 4 months post spinal surgery, that my back is pretty much as good as it's gonna get.  But I am so thankful to be able to walk again, that I will deal with it!  Trust me!

I'm so anxious to get in my trusty Tahoe and drive......just go somewhere, anywhere.  Being cooped up 24/7 since June 20th is grating on me.  But it IS a bit better now that I am able to do more besides "sit" and "lay down".  I mean, I can do laundry (except for the carrying), I can cook, I can sweep and mop (carefully and not perfectly, but, hey...it's something!).  Best part is, I can take showers by myself now, but I sure do miss having Chuck scrub my feet! {cuz I still can't bend over and he was SO good at it!}

Okay, enough about me....let's move right along to my latest favorite subject, Roller Derby!!!! Yay!!!  Gonna share some great photos of the last couple practices.  I sure wish it was me there shooting the pictures, but alas......I must enjoy the pics taken by others and be thankful that I get to see such great new shots every week!

First up is my sweet Xander!  Yes, folks.  The little man is on skates and determined to be a referee for the Midnight Sun Roller Girlz.  hee hee.  That's Camo Cazi helping him and my Emily (Emma Lee the Strange) in the background.

 He went down....but look at that smile!  How fun!

 This amazing action shot is the girlz practicing jumps over a skate board, in this case.  {They'll jump over anything...or anyBODY, for that matter!} We have my Riley (Boom-Dot Saint) on the left, Chelsee-U-Inhell in the middle and Camo on the right.  I really don't know why Riley looks like she just swallowed a frog.....If I coulda been there, maybe I'd have more insight.  Hmmmm

 This one is of Boom-Dot and Raggedy Andi doing 'Chariot Rides'.  Tough workout for the lead dog!

 And last, but not least is another awesome shot and it's of Camo and Raggedy Andi doing 'Leg Whips'

Aren't these girlz spectacular!!  But wait!  There's more!
Next up is Maggie {Morbid Maggie} getting her 'skate on'!!  Woo Hoo!! 

 And Emily {Emma Lee the Strange} getting HER 'skate on'!  I'm so proud of all my girls.  They are so gonna rock when they get a Junior Team going!!

Well, that's it for today.  I hope ya'll have a great weekend :)

1st Official Post

Well, I've pretty much got the new place set up the way I want it, so I'll go ahead and write an entry!

I'll start by explaining the Title, "Mama Monroe".

As many of you already know, my daughter, Terri and eldest grand-daughter, Riley are both in Roller Derby. To be precise, they belong to Midnight Sun Roller Girlz.  Okay, so I had been hearing about this group and the girls joining for MONTHS and was totally caught up in the excitement expressed by both of them, that just kept growing in leaps and bounds!  I couldn't wait to get up there in April for my visit and see what this Roller Derby thing was all about.

Well, here's a little sample of what I found:

In this 1st shot, they are scrimmaging during practice.  Riley {aka Boom Dot Saint~her Derby name) is to the right and has a yellow star on her helmet.  In this scrimmage she is the Jammer and it's her job to get by the rest of the pack, twice.  Right in the middle, in blue, is Raggedy Andi.  She's watching for Boom Dot to come around so she can grab her hand and "whip" her forward faster, past the other skaters.

 The second one is a shot of one of the most amazing women I have ever had the pleasure to meet and befriend.  It's the great Camo-Cazi!!  Yay!!  Sadly, in this shot, she is being sent to the penalty box....which I'm sure now explains to you the expression on her face.  LOL

This is just a random shot of Boom Dot cruising the track.  She has learned and developed her skills so quickly and we are all so proud of her!  She is totally dedicated and extremely focused and oh, how I love to watch her!!

 And here is Riley.....I mean Boom Dot with Emily (aka Emma Lee The Strange and Maggie (aka Morbid Maggie).  They are all learning and all loving it! 

And here is my Terri aka (Marilyn Makeumoan Roe).  Sadly, she bit the dust and that is Camo coming to her rescue.  She found out later that she blew out her knee and actually had to have surgery on it whilst I was there, so no skating for her for awhile longer!

Okay, so now that you've had a glimpse and I have disclosed everyone's Derby names, I can go one to tell you about the name of my blog :).  I just loved it all so much and all the members of the team are so awesome and it was all just so exciting to witness, even if I couldn't participate.....well, one thing led to another and I was dubbed "Mama Monroe" (since Terri's name is a spoof on Marilyn Monroe and I'm her Mama...get it?? Thought so.  Figured I'd explain anyway.)  AND............the paperwork is in the process for me to become an official team member!  YES!!!!! Since I am unable to actually skate, I will be an NSO (Non-Skating Official) but that's not to say that I might not just get my butt on some skates one day!!  LMAO

So this new blog will have some fresh material involving some of my new interests.  Roller Derby, knitting and a new "lease on life" after finally having surgery that has resulted in me being well on the way to being ever so much more physically mobile than I have been in about 3 years!!  Things are looking up, I'm feeling good and it's all up-hill from here!  Weeeeeeeeeeeeee...............

Ready to FLY!

In 23 hours I will finally be boarding the plane for my month long visit to Terri & The kids! Yay! I'm nervous about the trip and how well I'll fair, but I did suck it up and made arrangements for a wheelchair to get me from the plane to my next gate and each segment of my flight.

As for my need for a wheelchair, I'll update you on my recent medical issues. My back surgeon finally sent me for X-Rays and finally looked at them and deemed my spinal fusion a total success. All had healed completely and properly and he doesn't feel that my leg pain/issues are connected to my back surgery at all. He has forwarded me to an Orthopedic specialist. Of course, the back surgeon's office screwed around for so long that I can't see the new DR until I get back from Alaska. So walking will continue to be a major issue for my entire visit, but we will all deal with it! AND! My GP, bless his heart, gave me some Vicodin to make the trip a little easier.

And so, I start all over with a new set of issues to deal with. sigh.....I swear that someone (or several someones) out there has a voodoo doll with my name on it and is busy sticking pins in it!!

I do still have some back pain but it all blends in with the leg issues and I often find myself wondering WTF I even had the surgery for to begin with! My GP feels that I had what is referred to as a "Failed Fusion" and that the surgeon (of course) wants me to think that his work was no less than perfect. We shall see, I guess. If the Orthopedic guy can't help me. or thinks I need more surgery, I will put that off as long as possible by going the Pain Management route. All speculation, at this point. I'll have to wait and see what June brings.

On top of all of that, my Cobra insurance ends July 31st and my Medicare won't start until the following March so in all reality, it may be another year before I can really accomplish much of anything. Lovely....just f&%$ing lovely!

Around here it has been raining for 40 days and 40 nights with much flooding of the area. Roads washed out, gigantic hail storms, tornados zipping around our heads, touching down NEAR us, but luckily not too close. And so, I shall leave the mess in Arkansas and go to 'break up' in Alaska, where there is much mud, many pot holes and melting of snow, layer by layer. The awakening of Spring in the Great Land is really lovely to behold. In a couple of weeks, it will be beautiful beyond measure.
But for me, the faces I see tomorrow afternoon will REALLY be what is beautiful beyond measure!!

I will sink into that welcoming home, full of love and comfort and enjoy and absorb every snippet of it! And there will be much celebrating while I am there! My birthday, Mother's Day, Terri's birthday and Riley's graduation!!! So much fun to be had! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

The Blessings of Life ♥

And this, my friends, is a collage of my greatest treasures. The true blessings of my life. Timmy♥Emily♥Xander♥Riley♥Terri♥Maggie♥

BOONDOCK SAINTS DAY

Ahhhh.....the Boondock Saints! Where to start...

First, I will say right up front that some of you dear friends of mine will be appalled that I love these movies, these boys and what they are all about. There are serious guns involved and some very creative and down right delightful killings that go on in these movies. The MacManus Brothers are Irish Vigilantes and they kill incredibly vile and perverted and disgusting sinners, of the most horrendous kind!

My very own sweet little Irish Lass, Riley, introduced me to these movies while she was here this past summer. She had been telling me about them for AGES and couldn't wait to share them with me. One of the best things about getting together with my Riley is that we always stay up after everyone else has gone to bed, and she shares her favorite movies with me. We stay up into the wee hours eating chocolates and popcorn and chips, drinking coffee or Pepsi and Diet Vanilla Coke, curled up under a cozy afghan together sharing her beloved movies. She prepares me for the ultimate scenes, so that I don't blink and miss something! And she recites lines right along with the characters. I love it more than I can tell you! It has become our ritual and main plan of events in planning our visits with each other. The most amazing thing to me is that my 18 year old grand-daughter still considers me her best friend and likes to cuddle on the couch and watch movies and do fun stuff together. And we can also sit and drool over the same guys! Weeeeeeee!!!!

Okay, so back to Boondock Saints! Riley and Terri bestowed upon me the most awesome of Christmas gifts by sending me the movies. The Boondock Saints and Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day. And tonight I am going to officially introduce Chuck to these awesome movies! Riley and I watched each of them about 4 or 5 times, but I haven't seen enough. They are on my list of movies that I could watch over and over and over (along with all the Die Hard movies and Indian Jones, to mention a couple from my rather short list).

The movies are full of amazing music and I have put my favorite on my side bar, along with the "Prayer" they recite prior to shooting their victim. I love to have this playing when I am doing certain things at my computer and the best part is, it makes me feel like my Muffin Girl (Riley) is right here with me. The fun part is, Murphy LOVES it! When ever I play it, she comes running from where ever in the house she is; jumps up onto my computer desk and enjoys it with me. And well she should, since I named her for my favorite MacManus brother :)

This COULD lead me into how terribly I miss her....and Terri and Maggie, Emily, Timmy and Xander-Man. How my heart aches for them sometimes......most times. The light in my heart flickers so low, so often. It literally pains me to not be a daily part of their lives, as I once was. But things change. That is life. Shit happens, blah blah, yada, yada. I hate it.

BUT! Little things like the love of movies and music shared, fan the flicker into a flame and make it okay....for awhile.