Thursday, August 20, 2009

Ahhh, Love To Link You Baby ...

Back when I took down my blog roll because it became so impossible to keep up to date I said I was going to give shout-outs to fellow bloggers instead. Sexy helmeted hottie JAY did and promised the same thing. Each time I go to read Jay he’s wishing Happy Birthdays and he’s guest posting and he’s just plain doing what he said.

Me – not so much.

I tell myself I’m not a lazy thoughtless bitch because ‘followers’ is there. But ‘followers’ sucks. As I recently mentioned to the sweet super carpentry talented MICKY-T, my freakin’ followers thingie appears and disappears as much as my ex-husband used to.

Now I could make excuses. First of all there is my brand new grand baby Hope …



Her AUNTIE DARYL sent her a spiffy fashionista worthy outfit and I haven’t even taken a photo of her in it yet. Actually my photography is suffering a bit overall. I have been skipping photo projects (I hate the word meme) over at the THE PHOTO BLOG. I haven’t posted for ROBIN’S project or HEY HARRIET’S project in weeks. Same with CAMERA CRITTERS.

Then there’s all the family psycho drama. I’m thinking the less said about that the better. I do appreciate all the support and hugs I got from that post. CHERIE gives great hug, as does THOM. New friends like DUST BUNNY HOSTAGE and STITCH took the time to leave a kind word. I met Dust and Stitch during Positive Day, which I learned about from dancing and sports maven TRAVIS. My photo friend in Scotland JACKIE was really concerned. Her comments made me smile, just the way her amazing photos do.

The endless to and fro with the disability folks continues. As my friend BOND, VIN BOND said recently – “insurance companies suck”. I did however manage a small victory. After an initial denial I organized all my doctors and several of my clients for whom I can no longer work into a letter faxing campaign. I was told that my case has been sent back for re-review. RAVEN and AKELAMALU have been especially supportive on this front.

The heat wave hasn’t helped to energize me. As BOBBIE mentioned just the other day, the hot weather makes it difficult to focus on blogging or much of anything. RAMBLING WOODS, not to be confused with RAMBLING VILLAS GIRL, agrees. I hate hot weather and I despise humidity. I can’t even be funny about it the way RON can.

I’ve been trying to write. I have Finola’s story to finish and tons of stories about Nana. I have several other outlines too. I have also been looking into financial aid for online classes. I’d love to learn more about web design and graphic design and of course photography – it would be so wonderful to start a new home based business that I could actually do without the physical demands and travel of my current business. I don’t want to live on disability; it is never going to give me enough to get the hell out of this house – oops! I’m going there again. Plus how cool it would be to be as tech savvy as MOJO or as good a photographer as CG and HILARY and NICOLE B. The wonderful HAPPILY RETIRED GAL has taken some classes and it really shows in each new post.

I don’t know how it happens but somehow I end up playing online games. They calm me, especially when the leg throbs and the back muscle pulls and I don’t want to take another pill (or make another cocktail).

This keeps me from replying to all comments the way my sweet MATT-MAN does. I used to reply to every comment but I just can’t right now. I do read every single one plus I read all the comments on other blogs. That how I found SCOTT. He’s clever and quick and very funny. I think comments is how PATTI and GRAYQUILL found me. I’m glad they did, I enjoy their stories a lot. Plus I love to tease Grayquill a bit cause I think he likes it too. He’s Roadquill to me but that too is another story.

Well I need to go see if I have any worthy entries for PIC A THEME or WORLD IN B&W or any of MARY’S projects. How does she do it? I guess that’s why she’s a professor and I’m playing online poker.

I really do hope I can do a post with some linky love soon but I can’t promise.

41 comments:

Nessa said...

I think you have more links than just plain words. good job.

Baby Hope is still amazingly adorable.

Anonymous said...

DD - you have got to be one of the most thoughtful bloggers I know. Are you sipping the bottle early in the morning? Case in point: "I really do hope I can do a post with some linky love soon but I can’t promise." This post was filled with more love than Julie Andrews ever gave those beastly Von Trapp heathens. You are one in a million and I love ya to death...xoxoxoxxo What a beautiful picture of Hope. :)

j said...

Hope is so much more important than blogrolls, and we'll be here in Blogland, just getting older and wordier. She'll be getting older and wordier too. But her's will be much cuter :)

I appreciate the time that this post took. All of those links! And I feel really really blessed to have been included - you made me smile.

Happy Elf Mom (Christine) said...

Hope is a perfect excuse. You go, Nana! :]

Jay said...

That's lots of hot blogger on blogger linky love action right there! ;-)

Arkansas Patti said...

Thanks for all the new places to go and thanks so much for including me.
I usually end up where I am do to blog hopping. Convoluted but fun.
What a darling pic of Hope.
Good luck making blog pay. Wouldn't that be cool?

Miranda said...

Aww, she's soo cute. I've been thinking about taking off my blog roll too. Seems that they've all started tapering off. It's easier to follow I think.

bobbie said...

Each picture of your grandbaby is cuter than the last!

You did quite a job with this post, Dianne. Don't worry about trying to keep up with it all. We all love you anyway. You have a very full plate at the moment. I am just taking it easy, and reading as much as I can, but commenting on very few for the time being. You do what you can, and skip what you can't do.

Linda said...

So who says that you can't be creative in this nasty hot and humid weather we're having?!?

Excellent job!

Deborah Godin said...

As if all this wasn't enough, now that whole Michelle Obama's shorts kafuffle has come up. (I thought of you right away when I read about it on the news website). Keep cool, kiddo!

me ann my camera said...

Hope is such a sweet looking beautiful little girl!
!

Travis Cody said...

Wow...I'm a double maven? Cool!

You did a great job of linking in this post. And you're doing ok. Don't put phony pressure on yourself.

Deb said...

Hi ~ It is very difficult to keep up with blogging - writing creative, clever posts, getting pictures in the right place in the post, leaving comments, responding to comments...it is a full time job! And a job you do very well. I LOVE reading your posts - creative and honest. I love the way you worked so many links into this clever post. Well done - and now I am going to go visit some of these links. Take care.

Hilary said...

You sure did do a fine job of linking. I understand the games as a diversion from your woes. Don't worry one bit about the time you devote to blogging/comments. Just do what you've got to do to get by. Thanks for the linkage and the kind compliment. :)

Unknown said...

Baby Hope is precious!

It's hard managing time for so much, Dianne. I agree! lol! :)

Grayquill said...

I honestly can not remember how I found you but I am glad I did. You are a lot of fun. I wrote a new post just for you...well and for a couple of my other liberal friends. I can't wait to hear you reaction. Pins and Needles.

Debra said...

That is one cute grandbaby I tell ya. Quite an amazing post with all the linky love! I find playing games on line also calm me. When I'm not losing that is! LOL!

Jeni said...

I've never had a problem -as yet anyway -with my "followers" disappearing -just had that one, long and very drawn-out issue from mid-August of last year until about February with my reader not updating and I did lose readers during that time as a lot of folks thought I had quit blogging. Probably a lot of 'em wished I had quit too since I do tend to "run at the mouth" in my blog as well as in my comments.
About the disability thing -just keep hammering away on that. It's a royal pain in the behind, for sure, but without it, you'll just have an even bigger pain in the behind!
And, as you like to say -"at least there's Hope" and what a beauty she is, for sure!

the walking man said...

We finds ways to fills the times we gots to fills.

Getting the scales in balance is as good a way as any.

Nicole said...

Oh wow, thanks a lot :)
Grin...

This is one heck of a pimp some blogs post.

Must have missed the parts with your probs though. Hope you get them sorted out soon :(!

Your granddaughter is just the cutest little Babe.
I'm sure she's a good excuse for staying away from the Internet for a while :)

Have a great weekend!
Nicole

Jackie said...

Thanks for the linky, I'm feeling the love :)

That photo of Hope is just so cute. She's making this old cynic too broody.

Scott Oglesby said...

That was an awesome post and one I’ve been meaning to do myself. I know that for some reason Technorati gives blogs a higher rating if they are linked in the body of a post. For some reason the blogroll doesn’t matter at all. Anyway I was just going to tell you that I linked you today. What a coincidence!

Akelamalu said...

Great post Dianne, you have a lot of blog friends m'dear and you deserve them. Hope is just so beautiful. You are in my Reiki thoughts m'dear. x

Daryl said...

I feel the love ... and I am sending you hugs right back ... gentle ones cause we're both hurtin'

I think you need to write Nana's stories and think about a book ... maybe articles for a magazine .. open Word instead of a game, I bet its even more soothing to recall Nana. xoxo

Schmoop said...

Three words for you...God You're Hot!! Cheers Di!!

Ken said...

That should cover you for awhile ehh?
You Linker Queen!

Vinny "Bond" Marini said...

Dianne...Great news about going back into review...YAY for that

Super duper triple YAY YAY YAY for Hope...

Smart to keep the family drama to a minimum...last thing you need is for someone who shouldn't to find you and see something they should not...

Most excellent job with the links, but really girl...it would have been easier to go back to your blog roll then have to build all those links...

If you have any questions regarding web design...let me know - I ain't the best, but I have some minor skillz.

HUGS for your weekend.

Thorne said...

Can we say "overcompensate"?? Hahaha. Crazy woman! Good job. Super congrats on that incredibly gorgeous grandbaby! What a doll. Hangin' in at Pair -O - Dykes Ranch. Good to see ya. I've been MIA in bloggy land. Muaaaah!

Kaylia Metcalfe said...

Great post... now I have even more reason to ignore my work....

Linda Reeder said...

Wow. Don't know how much time I can devote to following all of these links, but I love hearing you commentate.
I hate the word meme too, and don't do any of them anymore. I just post what I want, when I want. Life offers me something to say or show often enough.

Askew To You said...

I am very impressed with how many shout-outs you fit in there. :)

I'm not crazy about the word meme, but I think it's because I'm not totally sure what it means.

Your grandbaby is absolutely gorgeous!!!!!

Frank Baron said...

I hope you find the time too. But with all you've got going on, it's darn understandable that you don't. ;)

And that baby's a keeper, for sure!

Bobkat said...

There are so many cool people in blogland - Like you! :) Sorry I haven't been around much, as one person who has their own psycho family to another - HUGS!

Maithri said...

The generosity of your heart never ceases to amaze me my beautiful friend,

Big love,

M

This Eclectic Life said...

Hope is beautiful! Congratulations. Now, these "link posts" take a LOT of effort ... you need to spread the links out so you don't have to work so hard on one post :-). That will leave you more time with the grandbaby!

Nellie said...

Hi Dianne,
I've also been MIA in blogland as of late, but today I decided to give my self permission to catch up on my favorite bloggers, such as you. What a fantastic post... what a job to have put up so many links! YOU. ARE. AMAZING!

Grandbaby Hope is beautiful (must take after her Gramma!)

No worry here about whether or not you respond to my comment... just wanted you to know that, even though I haven't been around in a while, I'm still thinking about you. Keep your chin up, girl, you're the best!

Namaste'
Barb

Lowell said...

Hi Di!

I think you need to do whatever it is you need to do and not worry about the rest.

Can't do a damn thing about the weather and there's no point in putting demands on yourself that are unrealistic...

It seems to me you're doing quite well considering the circumstances...

You've got a lot of nice people pulling for you, too!

OldLady Of The Hills said...

No Linky Love??? LOL! Well, it sure looks like a lot to me....You are amazing!
I pray you get what you need from our dear Government, my dear....And I am so sorry to read about all the pain you are in....I can identify, I'm sorry to say, and it really is debilitating and depressingly exhausting....Also sorry to read about the family drama...Nothing is easy, is it? Thank God for HOPE! She sure is darling....!

We have had more Humidity here this year than I can ever remember in ALL the years I have lived here....And everyone feels this....I hate humidity. I like DRY Desert Heat---which is what we used to have....

Keep your chin up, dear Dianne...This too shall pass, hopefully!

Maria Berg said...

I have also meet so many lovely people since I stared to blog,

MB

CG said...

Thank you for the mention. I would be lost without all my wonderful blogfriends, including YOU. Keep plugging away; you will triumph over the insurance companies one day - I hope!

Happily Retired Gal said...

Hope is ADORABLE ;--)
What a wonderful post! I've not used my Blog Roll or opened Google Reader in AGES ... relying instead on Mr. Linky and responding in kind to visitors to each of my blogs. I can't remember the last time I dropped by here and am delighted you make your entire post available in the reader making catch-up a bit quicker and easier. Thanks for the mention of HRG and so many other bloggers ... some known to me and some unfamiliar. I value all the folks I've met in this virtual world and know we each struggle to achieve balance in our lives in whatever ways make sense. Enjoy that little QT and keep the pictures coming ;--)
Hugs and blessings,