On Saturday, while trying to find owners of lost dogs, bake endless batches of zucchini bread and put together a homemade spaghetti sauce, I was confronted with an urgent problem.

Hubby was on the phone calling the Police about the lost dog, when he bumped his wine glass. As if in slow motion, I watched it fall, spilling the contents of his glass right onto the top of his laptop computer!

I ran around the breakfast bar and grabbed the laptop turning it immediately upside down, pulling out the cord, and pressing the power button, in what seemed like one motion! I stood there holding the laptop in this odd manner until I could decide what to do with it.

I propped the machine upside down and used a pot to balance it on so the keyboard stayed parallel to the counter top while it either dried or died.

It was dry in the house, and cool as well. We left the laptop like that for several hours before Hubby turned it on. Presto! It worked just fine. Apparently Dell computers like a little red wine now and then. Who knew?

The only long term casualty was Hubby’s cordless mouse. When I grabbed the machine to save it from being soaked by the wine, I damaged the receiver. More like ripped that little sucker out of the machine and tore it almost in half!

So today Hubby and I drove down to Wal-Mart to pick up a new mouse for him. He got exactly the same mouse that he had before as he really liked it.

We also bought 2 lobsters for dinner as the local Market is having a big sale this week.

So one big disaster was averted, even though another smaller one happened. I look at it  this way,  I would rather spend twenty dollars on a new mouse, than a thousand on a new computer!

Well my first day back at Weight Watchers was not as bad as it could have been, but then, not as good either. I decided to adopt the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy for this week, as I weighed in. I know exactly what I have to do, and now I just need to get on with it, and do it!

After the meeting I came home, stopping at the grocery long enough to buy some fresh fruit. I know that the more fresh produce that I eat, the better I will do. So I stocked up.

Then I came home and began to prepare for dinner guests. It was an easy meal of chicken and steaks with corn on the cob, potato salad and fresh fruit. Hubby dressed in his finest Barbecue clothes,

and the dogs got ready too.

Greta

Anneliese

Arnie

While we dined outside on the patio with our friends, the moon began to rise and it was so beautiful that I grabbed my camera and snapped this picture.

We had a great evening, and it lasted fairly late, which is why I need to close this off and get myself into bed. The day will start fairly early tomorrow and I absolutely need my beauty sleep!

Today is Hubby’s Birthday. Usually birthdays we spend doing something special. Dinner out, gourmet meal in, but today, Hubby is working and I have a meeting to go to as well. So any celebrations we share will be on Monday night or Wednesday night.

In any case, I wish my dear Hubby a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy Birthday Hubby!!! from Dackel Princess Maribeth on Vimeo.

Today Hubby and I are celebrating our 22nd Wedding Anniversary! We have been so lucky. Although we’ve shared the ups and downs that life throws at you, we’ve always managed to get through it because we had each other.

We were friends for a long time before we fell in love. Perhaps that is the key to a long relationship. Being friends first.

Whatever it is, we are blessed and thankful to have shared this time.

Our 22nd Anniversary from Dackel Princess Maribeth on Vimeo.

Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart!

You know it really is wonderful. After a few little skirmishes (minor, really), the crew has settled in and every one is getting along. For a while Fritz was afraid of the little guy, but this morning I found them this close together.

In fact, Fritz really calmed down and actually likes Bogey. He lies down with him and while Bogey sleeps, Fritz chew on his bones and watches over him.

The other little rivalry has been between Arnie and Bogey. Not that Bogey has felt this, but Arnie sure has. I have been spending time each night snuggling with my little man and assuring him that he is still my one and only!

Then today Arnie started to play with Bogey! I was shocked! They ran in the field together, and played in the house afterward. I even got this picture of them in front of the fire that I got going today!

They look so comfortable together that I finally felt at ease.

So if Bogey’s parents check the blog, worry not! He is happy and healthy and having a good time with the rest of his birth family.

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PS: Hubby did the most romantic thing this morning. When the dogs got up this morning, Hubby got up with them and let me stay in bed!!! Now that is real love and the most romantic thing a man can do for his wife!

LOL!!!

I knew we would have a lot of snow. I think it was about 8-9 inches. Hubby was up early and blew the snow off the driveway. Then the two of us went off to the computer shop to get his computer fixed. They told us it would take 2-3 days.

Then we came home and let the doggies play outside. They had such a good time.

I de-cluttered the shelves in my closet and will work on the clothes on Wednesday. Tuesday I have a dental cleaning and a meeting with a woman’s charitable organization. That will be enough for me, I think.

As it is, tonight I am tired and I think I will entertain myself with some mindless TV.

Here is a little heads up to you all. Many of you think you are computer savvy, and some of you probably are, but as time goes on, the rotten people who write viruses that attack and disable computers get more and more cleaver, and before you know it, your machine is down and out.

A few days ago Hubby mentioned that our Norton Anti-virus had come up for renewal and when he clicked to do it, it zapped out the Norton Anti-virus and supposedly installed Norton 360. It took three days for Hubby’s laptop to come to a crashing halt! Full of viruses and I am completely unable to get into the system to remove them.

So, on Monday Hubby’s machine will go off to the laptop hospital to be repaired.

One thing I discovered during my talk with the technician at the shop, is that this is a new and bad virus that tricks people into giving their credit card information. If you click Yes, it will bring you to that page, and the infection begins. If you click no, it closes the window, but the infection begins jamming up your computer. So yes is yes, and no is yes as far as the virus people go! The only way NOT to infect your machine is to hit the X in the top right corner of the box.

I got the desktop computer set up for Hubby but he does not have a compete address book or current bookmark folder on it. I am hopeful the technician can recover all his information.

My advice to all, please be careful!

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Meanwhile, the laptop drama kept me busy and I didn’t get any extra de-cluttering done today. I am hoping to get back to work tomorrow on things.

I slept amazingly well on Saturday night. Sometime around 4 o’clock I heard the telltale sign that we’d had a good snowfall. I heard a snowplow truck go down the road below our home. I recall smiling, as I snuggled with the dackels and Hubby and fell back to sleep.

When I woke at 7:30 I grabbed the camera so when I let the dackels out I could take some pictures. They were so happy to see snow. Especially the girls!

Left to right are Anneliese, Arnie and Greta.

The girls played and played, but Arnie soon got pretty wet and headed back toward the door.

There is a certain excitement that comes with the first substantial snowfall. I feel it and so do the pups. Last night I stood outside before I went to bed, in the snow. I just stood alone as the snow fell all around me and I listened to the silence! If you have never seen snow, or been around it you will not know what I am writing about. But when the snow has covered the ground and it is snowing heavily the snow dampens the sounds around you. So when you stand in your yard, alone all you can hear is the most wonderful silence in the world.

Later in the morning I decided to take all four dogs out for a little romp in the snow. Fritz is so good, as he never leaves your side, or if he does, he comes right back when you call. At six years old he is a great dog!

The three dackels were excited and trotted right up our driveway. Suddenly Anneliese saw something by the edge of the woods, and off she ran.

We all made it back on the driveway and walked along a little bit more. Then I called for them to come back and as you can see, only three of them listened. Yes, Anneliese was off chasing snow bunnies, I think!

So once the three dogs were up near the house I turned to find Anneliese. That was pretty easy. She was coming back through the woods, looking very much like the mighty huntress that she is!

She followed me up to the house.

We found Arnie at the door waiting for us, looking just a little cold!

Hubby had started a fire in the hearth so we all came in and enjoyed the warmth. Between the snow, the fire, and going out to the Town Christmas party I really felt in the holiday spirit!

Sunday was a weird day. Some rain, some sun, but lots of play times. We took the pups into the back yard as often as possible and allowed them to run us ragged! While they did that Anneliese, Arnie and Greta all worked at teaching them all the things that proper doggies know.

If you would like to see the pictures to identify which pups are which, you can go over to my flickr account and see them here.

I also used the day to catch up on some laundry, some puppy room cleaning, including washing more of their soft toys, and cooking my sweet Hubby special meals to celebrate Father’s Day. I also gave him a book I knew he would love. It’s  “The Berlin Candy Bomber” by Gail Halvorsen . He is the World War II pilot who dropped chocolate down to the children of Berlin during his flights into the city during the Berlin Airlift. Hubby actually knew Gail when he was based in Berlin, and played racket ball with him. He loved the book! And I am guessing the cooking too!

Also a big Happy Birthday to my favorite cousin, Janet! You are  more like a sister to me than a cousin. How lucky I am to have you in my life! Go on over and wish her a Happy Birthday!!!

Today is the birthday of my dearest friend, lover and confidant. How lucky I am to have this wonderful man in my life. Happy Birthday, Honey, and many, many more!!!