A Hiatus of Sorts for Skating Through Life

For the past several weeks my life has made some drastic changes.

On September 25th an extremely freak fall at home led to a broken femur, surgery and a new chapter in my routine of life. So many things in life happen for a reason and I guess this was mine.

I have always been pretty healthy and never or rarely go to the doctor unless I absolutely have too. Life for the past several years has been filled with a variety of tasks that I felt I didn't always have a choice but to handle the best way I could and sometimes put other things before myself. You hear all the time that you have to take care of yourself before you can take care of others. I now know that is 100 percent true.

I have been called many things positive and negative. But right now I call myself a strong, independent, fighter who has breast cancer. I know already this road is not easy (I have had one infusion and have another next week). It is one step at a time and according to my oncologist it is the easiest to treat.

Several friends asked if I was going to blog about my journey. Frankly, I did hesitate only because according to the statistics, I am 1 in 8 who gets a breast cancer diagnosis. With so many women and men who have breast cancer why is my experience any different? Well as I began to talk to a few people and express some of my situations I would get, "Gee that is interesting" or "Wow I never heard that" so maybe I do have a reason to blog this new chapter.

I thought about just ending Skating Through Life since before these cancer events started I had lost a little bit of my spark in writing, but as in skater's lives and the new trend in just about anything today its all about the "REBOOT".  Maybe after this part of my life is evolving I will just take a skating hiatus.

I have chosen the title for the blog: BC Chronicles--The Journey Into My Pink World...it is still in early stage:

www.BCChroniclesTheJourneyIntoMyPinkWorld.blogspot.com

Armadillo Population Down- Summer of 2019

After a winter of many days in, to get to take a road trip and celebrate 35 years of marriage is a full circle adventure. Now that our lives with business, family, caregivers adds to our time much more than anticipated, the hubby talked me into getting away for a couple days to celebrate 35 years (technically together 37 years) of not killing each other after all these years.

So for a couple days we headed south to the what many around the Midwest call the southern Las Vegas; Branson, MO (population 10,000 +/- normally, in the summer more than you care to count but enough to help the economy). It had been some time since we had been to Branson. The last time was with kids and in-laws so this time we were in the minority because we didn't have double digit numbers of an entourage. A good thing because you can get into restaurants and other venues a lot quicker with two than more than two people.

The approximate three hour drive down single and double lane roads, green pasture after green pasture was a welcome diversion.

Our first stop was in Springfield for some much needed Hurt's Donuts. We bought enough for a couple days and for sure one or two day old Hurt's are worth the wait. After checking into the quaint and quiet Branson Hotel in Downtown Branson, we took a wonderful tour with Lori the Manager and couldn't have asked for someone more welcoming to make us feel comfortable. After presenting us with a delicious California wine we relaxed and plotted our couple of days.

Our first evening dinner was a little disappointing, but more on that later. We got up the next morning, had breakfast at a local cafe within walking distance and set off for The Butterfly Palace. I have visited several around the country over the years and always excited to see the butterflies in any habitat. Although, the butterfly containment did not have a lot of butterflies to view flying around, (they do release them consistently after they emerge but I guess we just were not at the right time). The 3D video on Monarch's was very good and the gift shop was well stocked with variety of items.

A side note, back at our hotel the manager mentioned that any shows or venues we wanted to visit we could have the tickets emailed to her. We had decided to go to a show (SIX) that same day. Along with the coupons she gave us I averted a real disaster. I accidentally gave the tickets to SIX to the Butterfly Palace cashier! I didn't realize until after we finished watching the video what I had done but we were able to get them back without incident. Off to the SIX show we went. I will say I had many suggestions of shows by many people. In all honesty some of the shows have been there for years and if you have seen them once you sometimes prefer something different. Honestly, ended up choosing this one because it was a Saturday Special Price. But, let me tell you they didn't disappoint. The six brothers (Knudsen) do all singing without music and provide the "instruments" from their voices. The two hour show was well worth it and they did music from the 40s to current day.

Branson Hotel Sculpture

Branson Hotel Garden

 After the show we drove to the Big Cedar Lodge/Top of the Rock for dinner. What a difference a day makes! The meal, view and sunset was summer perfect.  I enjoy a good grilled steak and unfortunately, M. Mike's didn't hit the mark for either David or myself. But, I guess an entire weekend of perfection is a lot to ask for. It was recommended but not a good Friday night for M. Mike's.

On our back home we stopped in Springfield at the Fantastic Caverns. I had heard about this place for years and to further delay our trip back home we decided to stop and check it out. First discovered by John Knox and his dog in 1865, the cave was held in secret during the Civil War so that they wouldn't be used for military hiding places. In 1867, 12 brave women from the Springfield Women's Athletic Club ventured into the caverns and left, there signatures in stone. Many of the names are still visible (except one) to commemorate these women's entry of the caves.  Always enjoy a good women victory story. The comfortable 60 degrees every day was a welcome change for the warm days previously.

As our trip came to an end one observation for the summer season was obvious; the roadkill totals were definitely different this year I noticed. Pretty sure with all the rain we have had this spring and summer it definitely brought out the armadillo population out on the roads, unfortunately many did not make it across the road to the other side.

Other pics and stories on my Instagram.

The Age of Living Dangerously

Already more than half way through the year and as some free time came my way I realized it had been an extremely long time since I had posted. Don't get me wrong,  I have tried to make time for blogging but you come at a point in life where after doing the same things over and over again you wonder if it is worth the efforts. I have walked that road a lot lately.

Purging the different sections of your life can be a great thing. From closets of clothes you no longer wear, to old records that are a walk down memory lane.  What and who you dedicate your time and efforts too should also be reevaluated as well, believe me I have and am continuing to do that as well.

 This is my absolute favorite time of year when I can take pride in my plantings and partake in capturing photos, weeding and not needing to think of certain other things in my daily life. I attempt to do this in between the heatwave, rain and other daily life situations.

Not helping the situation has been a literal pain in my side; back pain. While overdoing life at 57 1/2 I somehow strained my back so it has been a challenge to take care of it as well. Doing without yoga for a few weeks and basically trying to find a comfortable place while sleeping has been interesting. The back pain actually reminded me of my time figure skating when practicing I strained my back so bad I could hardly cope with the pain. It took several weeks of muscle relaxers and rest and within no time I was back on the ice.

Those days of recovery are much longer these days and living dangerously becomes living with a freedom of complications and hopefully a little peace but as I punch this post out I hear thunder coming from the west.

Tucked in on a Snowy Day 2019

I feel like this is a confessional. It has been six months since my last blog post. My post in July talked about the ugly Japanese Beetle infestation in our area and other's had experienced in the spring of 2018. Now its a Snowmageddon of such and possible blizzard next weekend.

So many things have occurred in the past six months. To much to try and cover in one post. I pretty much gave up on the blog I think because I felt; who cared. I went back and looked at how long ago I started it and what I had covered in that time period. Ten years! Ten years of opinions, perspectives, skating stories, family stories etc.  I created an Instagram account a couple years ago and have posted pictures of things in my life. Very few selfies but more of a journal.

When I started the blog, social media was not as judgmental as it is now. Let's face it we all are a little judgmental sometimes more than we should be but it is a fact and the only way you can get away from it is to lock yourself inside, not talk to anyone and let your voice be silenced.

On snowy days like we are having we tend to reflect on things because we are being held hostage by Mother Nature. Yes, it is beautiful but after a big storm like this I am ready for the buzzer to sound letting me get back to my somewhat normal daily life.  For now I am getting many projects done that had been on my list for snowy day activities.

Happy 2019. Lets see where this year the journey takes me.

2019 January Snowstorm