I'm a Hellion!

Well, the draft is over. I am officially a Hot Metal Hellion! Green and purple look fabulous together!

Demi Lition, Maid of Steel and Fire Down Below are all other Meaties that are Hellions too! We had our first official team practice last night. It was great, much more focused than a league practice. This is exactly what the Meaties need, focus on specifics.

I am so excited to be a part of this team, the girls all seem so great and they were so welcoming to us new girls!
Go Hellions!

The Bruise Blog

Okay, they don't call me Fonda Bruises for nothing. I've racked up quite a few in the past month.

This lovely is the result of my first night of scrimmaging. I fell hard not once, but twice on the same spot. I ended up with a huge hematoma that lasted for two weeks.

I finally get it healed and guess what? I go down hard in the same spot again. This time the bruise isn't so spectacular. You can still see an ugly, yellow shadow of the original bruise.

This beauty was a gift from Blissy Sadistic. I took a couple of her wheels to my shin when she was going down. She doesn't even know that she branded me!

This lovely bruise was compliments of Bekkie MK Ultra during Full Contact Musical Chairs practice. I went to sit on a chair and she slid in under me and slammed me into the side of the chair that was to the left of me.

Which also resulted in my shin getting trapped between the two chairs.

Finally, this is a most impressive bruise. Sadly, it isn't a result of derby, just me falling down my basement stairs. This bruise, however, did coin my skater name FONDA BRUISES!!

Update on life

It's catch up time. A lot has gone on in 2007, some good, but mostly bad. Here's the low down:

My mother is now a permanent resident of Kittanning Care. She just is not motivated to do anything but lay in her bed all day long. Nothing said and no one can get her to even get into her wheel chair to leave her room. She eats every meal in her room. This fucking sucks because she is 60!!!!!!!!! God gave her TWO more chaces at life and she is still just laying there. What a waste.

I now have the wonderful task of clearing out her apartment and getting rid of all her stuff including her car, which I can't locate the title to. I need to be out by the end of May since we can't afford to pay for both her residence and the nursing home. I have been really unmotivated to do this. There are other things I would rather do. So, I hope to give myself a good kick in the ass and get this knocked out.

I have decided not to tell my Mom that I am clearing out her apartment and getting rid of all her stuff. I fear that it will send her into a deeper depression. I figure if a miracle happens and she is able to live on her own again, we will just buy her new stuff.

Two weeks ago, Nick's mom was life flighted to Pittsburgh for bypass surgery. She pretty much flat lined twice in ACMC. She is doing good, but having some complications. Nick's mother wants to live, while my mother doesn't. Crazy world.

Now for the good stuff........roller derby is going great. Our draft is Thursday! I can't wait. I hope I get picked for a team.

I found out yesterday that I qualified as a Young Nails Educator. I flew to Los Angeles in early April for the workshop. Greg wanted to see us work, witness how we present and all that jazz. I am really happy about this. I love this product and I have used it exclusively in my salon since it opened.
The Purple Pinkie is rocking! We are booked solid for weeks. We need help. I am trying to find one or two nail techs. I need someone that is willing to come in, learn, work hard and they will be able to build a good clientele. They need to be willing to pay their dues, which means, you have to practice when it is slow, make yourself visible and be ready for when the busy seasons come and go.

I am excited that spring seems to finally be on it's way. I was able to clean my pond out yesterday. I got it all filled up and running. I love to sit and listen to the water flow. It relaxes me. That is something that I need to work no right now RELAXING.

I rocked Easter 1972

This is a little late, but here is a photo of me Easter 1972. I was on the front page of the local newspaper because I collected the most eggs at the Easter Egg Hunt.
This is a black and white clipping, however, I would like you all to know that I was rocking PURPLE cords and a PURPLE coat with a red and black plaid babushka. What the heck was my mother thinking????

Shaler Township police ROCK!

So, after our skills test last night, we were all prepared to go have our ceremonial beer and Nancy discovered that she had locked the keys in her car. ZOMBItch suggested that she call the police to help her out.

Within 10 minutes of calling, we had not one, but two Shaler Township cruisers pull in. We gave them a big, WHOOOO HOOOO, which they really appreciated.

Nancy had to fill out a ton of waivers. Officers Spiker and Waugh went to town with their slimjims, each taking a door. Officer Spiker got the passenger side unlocked in no time.

They then had a little trouble getting the slimjim out. At one point, we thought Nancy was going to have to drive home with it sticking out of the door. She then realized that she can no longer open the drivers side door (that's why they have you sign those waivers). So until she gets it fixed, I guess she will be Dukes of Hazzarding it.

We are going to all chip in and send Officers Spiker and Waugh four tickets to our April bout. They said that the derby call was their favorite call of the night! We expect to see them in April waving their slimjims!!!

RIP Tommy

RIP Tommy.......you were a great little fish and you will be missed!

Onboard spa experience

Okay, so I am so busy all the time making everyone else have great looking hands and feet, mine always look like crap. I didn't have one second to make mine look presentable for this vacation, so I decided to treat myself to a manicure and pedicure on the cruise ship. I was lucky enough to get an appointment today, since it is formal night and everyone is getting gussied up today.

I had a lovely gal from Jamaica do my services. I did go incognito, though, on my client consultation form, I listed myself as "Sales" for occupation. I do sell rubber stamps, so it wasn't a lie. I usually don't like to tell people that I am a nail tech when I get services because it usually makes them either nervous or have an attitude with me. It's better just to pretend you are Jane Public.

The services were great, with wonderful products and awesome massages.. There were a couple of disturbing things like using the same orangewood stick over and over, and it is dyed blue from soaking in disinfectant between services. Come on, these things are like two cents a piece. They are to be thrown away after one use, not soaked in disinfectant. They are porous and can't be disinfected.

She also used her nipper blades to scrape my entire nail plate to remove non-iving tissue. I was a little alarmed at first, but was pleasantly surprised and the results and there does not seem to be any trauma to the nail bed. I may have to try incorporating this technique into my service.
Files and buffers were used over and over with no sign of disinfection between services. She did use oil with the CND Girlfriend Buffer, which is not recommended, since it breaks down the buffer.

All in all, it was a good experience, despite the few things I had a problem with. Total cost of services $95, which would cost $50 in my salon. Almost twice the cost, but worth it to be pampered for a change.

Cruise Photos!

Here's the start of the photos, I will be posting daily, so check back!!

Rhonda on chair - I love this chair! I want one! Nick is next to me, ignoring me as ususal.

Lynn's Hank on Chair - Get in my belly!

Rhonda on camel at the casino

Just say no to crack!

ATV-ing in the Jungle in Cozumel

Snorkeling in Belize

FRESH MEAT (in the heat) in Costa Maya!

FRESH MEAT elegant style!

Waaaayyyy tooo much Rum Punch!!!!!!

Update on Mom

Thursday, September 7, Mom was released from Allegheny General Hospital after 31 days to a long-term acute care facility in Monroeville. She had a set back three weeks ago and I hadn't been able to communicate with her since. It was like the lights were on, but no one was home, which is typical with brain injuries. The new facility is really nice. I went to visit her on Saturday. I sat down and started talking to her. I started to tell her about Goldstock and how much fun Riley had. The most amazing thing happened. As soon as I mentioned Riley's name, she got this big smile on her face and was really looking into my eyes. From there, I asked her all types of questions and she answered with head nods and tried to talk. She has a trachea in, so speaking is not that easy. This is such a huge step! I can't wait for her to get stronger so that she can be put into a wheelchair and I can bring Riley for a visit. Dogs are only allowed in the lobby and on the grounds. If mentioning his name gets that reaction out of her, I can't imagine what feeling is golden coat will do. I keep hoping and praying that things get better. It is such a shame for someone that is 59 to be in this condition.

I saved a life Labor Day weekend!

I attended Goldstock in Scranton, PA (six hour drive) Labor Day weekend with Riley, my golden retriever. It's a weekend fundraiser at a summer camp for Golden Retriever Rescue groups. It's like Meatball's (remember that movie) with your dog.

I excitedly took Riley, along with others and their dogs to the lake to see if Riley would swim, or jump off the dock. He had went into the water once when he was a pup to retrieve a stick and was horrified! I hoped he had grown out of it and thought that seeing hundreds of dogs in the water would make him want to go in too. He was having nothing of it. Go figure, a Golden that doesn't like water!

While at the lake, I suddenly heard Jen, my roommate screaming hysterically. Bailey, her Golden had swam out really far to retrieve a buoy that he thought was a ball. The buoy was roped and anchored. Bailey was swimming with all his might to bring the "ball" back to the dock. He was getting exhausted, yet he would NOT release the ball. We feared that he was tangled up in the rope. He was not going to stop until he had retrieved the "ball", retrievers just can't leave something!

Without hesitation, I went running toward the dock along with Karen from England. I started dropping all my gear, my backpack, leash, took off my jacket, sweatshirt, kicked off my shoes, socks and threw my hat, sunglasses, cellphone and purse on the dock as I was racing to the water. Despite it being 54 degrees, I jumped in the lake with all my clothes on, swam out to Bailey and attempted to take the buoy from him. He growled at me, (that stinker) but gave it to me. I then checked to be sure he wasn't tangled and he immediately swam for the dock. He was so tired, it took three people to lift him out of the lake.

I arrived at the dock to find Riley looking down at me from the dock with my socks, jacket and sweatshirt in his mouth. Seems that he went behind me and gathered up all my clothes for me. Too bad I was the one in the water and not him! Guess he was the smart one all nice and dry!

Attending this event was a wonderful thing for me. Up until the moment I got in my car to go, I didn't know if I had the physical or emotional strength to go. My Mom's illness and hospitalization has really been sucking the life out of me. Something made me go. I truly believe that I was meant to be there to save Bailey.


Karen and Rhonda get Bailey situated with Jen, his mom.



Here's Bailey, the precious baby, sleeping on a spare bed at camp later that night.



7 MALE dogs, waiting for their treats. Riley is first on the left. Believe it or not, no fighting, snipping, nothing! I am amazed at this breed!

Riley, Starlight, Fletcher, Bailey, Noah, Conner and Leo