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!

Today Hubby and I visited an exhibition of two WW II aircraft. The B-17 and the B-24. We were allowed to walk through the planes and take tons of pictures. So many, in fact that I actually put together a slide show.

What really hit me was how small the insides of the planes were. How these men were able to get around is totally amazing to me. Especially the area underneath the B-17, the Ball Turret, where the Belly Gunner sat. I looked and I just knew I could not have gotten in there. Or if I had gotten in, I never would have gotten out.

I spoke for a long time to the Belly Gunner of that plane, Smitty. He told us the story of when the plane had been shot down, and how he had lost his arm. He spoke kindly of the German Nun Nurse who cared for him. He told us about the struggles that the men went through.

I shook his hand with thanks, and by the end of the talk, I hugged both him and his wife.

I thought of all the young lives lost and also of all the lives saved by these heroic men. What a terrible time  in world history, and yet these machines that flew through the sky, primitive as they were, flown by these fearless men, conquered overwhelming evil and restored freedom to many parts of the world.

I was so pleased that I was able to hear about Smitty’s survival. He is a real American Hero.

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The pups and Greta got to go for a ride to the Vets office today so that Greta could get her stitches out. Everyone went wild for the puppies, and Greta’s stitches are now finally out. We returned home and I prepared a clean whelping box, set them inside of it, and noticed the little faces looking out over at me.

Yes, we’ll be setting up that new box soon!

My day was a full one on Saturday. I felt loved. You see I had my wonderful Hubby, all 8 of the dackels around me, plus several of my friends came to visit.

First my dear friend Alice came over from the great state of Vermont to visit me and the puppies. We had a great lunch, lots of puppy snuggles and enjoyed a lovely day. Here is a short montage from our time together.

Then just as Alice left another friend, who teaches in India, arrived with her pal and two of her kids. They were amazed at the dackels. Makenna and her sister came by, another neighborhood child, Jacqui and then my friend Dori and her boyfriend Bob came for dinner.

I was so busy, that I didn’t dwell on the fact that 24 years ago my life changed forever. Twenty four years ago, I had the worst day of my life, but lived to tell about it. You can read about it here.

No, today I lived. Happily and healthfully. Life was good.

By the time most of you check in and read this, Anneliese and I will be on our way back to the States. We’ve had an incredible time, seen some old and some new places, and met some great people!

Uschi and I have talked until our jaws ached, watched movies, played with dogs and hopefully helped Anneliese become a Mommy.

But now I return home to Hubby and my other three babies. I sure have missed them. When I look back and remember how Hubby brought me here, as a new bride and showed me a city which will always remain special in his heart, I couldn’t help but wander around with my head full of the memories that we made here together.

But now I hug Uschi and Volker and say good-bye, thanking them both for all that they did. And I think how lucky we are to have each other!

All my bags are packed
Im ready to go
Im standin here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin
Its early morn
The taxis waitin
He’s blowin his horn
Already Im so lonesome
I could dieSo kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that youll wait for me
Hold me like youll never let me go
cause Im leavin on a jet plane
Dont know when Ill be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

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My beloved Uncle passed away just before midnight on New Years Eve. It’s sort of funny that he died on this holiday, because he was born quite close to Valentine’s Day and we always celebrated his birthday then.

Uncle George is the father of my cousins, Janet and Larry. His mother was the sister of my Grandmother. However, he was raised with my Mom and the two of them were like brother and sister, and all of their lives they just adored each other.

The family many years ago. Uncle George is in the back on the left, with his mom and my mom is on the left in the very front next to her mother and father.

Then there is my other set of grandparents, my great Grandpa Daniell, and my Uncle Bob and Aunt Cynthia. Aside from my mom, they are all gone now. I miss each and every one.

One of my earliest memories of my Uncle is at the beach. It was there that he taught me to swim and to dive safely off his shoulders. I never worried about getting in over my head as long as his loving strong arms were around me.

I was perhaps 6 or 7 years old when during one of our beach trips, I stepped on a piece of glass and nearly sliced off my toe. I stood there crying and before I could call out, Uncle George was there. He lifted me up in his strong arms, examined the toe, and wrapped it in his t-shirt. Then he carried me home, a 5-10 minute walk from the beach. He drove us to the hospital and stayed with me while my toe was stitched up.

One time Janet and I decided to slip the noose of parental guidance and swim out to the raft in rough water. Oh ,we made it out just fine, but sitting on the rocking raft at Surf Drive Beach we sort of lost our cool about swimming back. Well, you guessed it; Uncle George swam out and helped us both swim in.

Besides rescuing us, he also made us feel important. He taught us to bowl, to hike, to build a camp fire, and to love life. He didn’t do these things in a big flashy way. He never asked for recognition, he just quietly went about being a great Dad to his own kids and to those of us that were lucky enough to be one of Uncle George’s kids.

When I married for the second time Uncle George gave me away. It was such a special moment in time. We looked into each others eyes, and smiled. I felt closer to him at that one moment than I ever had.

I’ll cherish that moment for the rest of my life.

Uncle George and Aunt Betty loved my kids and always were snuggling with them. It gives me a lot of peace to know that they are both with Katie now. I know she won’t be lonely.

I will miss this gentle man for all the days left of my life. He was the strong, silent type of man, who showed me what a real man was all about. I remember seeing him after Katie had passed away. He never said a word. He folded me in his arms and held me for the longest time, and once again, I was taken back to my youth, when Uncle George made me feel safe.

So good bye for now, my dearest Uncle. You were greatly loved in this life, and will be missed. Thank you for making such a difference in my life. God Bless!

Here I am with my sister, Mel. We’ve been sharing the last couple of days together, and Friday is our big shopping day. Just the two of us! I’m looking forward to that. We haven’t had a lot of time, just us two since we got married and started our own families, all those years ago, but here we are in our prime, with opportunities to be “sisters” once again. 

One of the things I love the best about Mel, is that we have shared those first years in our lives together. She knows that I was a real Barbie Doll nut, and I know that she was almost never too busy to stop and play Barbies with me.

She read to me as a child, comforted me when I had bad dreams, and helped me do the dishes when I had to use a kitchen chair to reach the sink.

We sang silly songs together, played outside in the summer after dark, watching the fire flies and the moon, and we dreamed about what our lives would be when we grew up.

She found her Prince Charming and I found mine. Our kids are good kids, grown and with lives of their own now and she has wonderful grand-kids that I just adore.

Yes, I’m lucky to have Mel, and I sure hope she knows just how much I love her!

Hubby and I decided to take in a movie today. I’ve wanted to see “Mama Mia!” since with trailers first started to appear on the television a while back. As with almost everything, it takes movies a while to get to the back woods of New Hampshire.

I was really amazed. It was so much fun, and the singing by people I have never thought of as singers, Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Julie Walters and Colin Firth, was actually very good!

I’m also 49 years old. All the music originally done by the musical group ABBA, was popular during the time when I avidly followed pop music. I remember listening to my radio in my bedroom at home as a teen and dancing up a storm. I also knew every word to every song back then, but my memory is failing as I approach middle age, so please don’t ask me to sing each word now.

Today, sitting in the movie theater with Hubby, listening to the music and following the movie plot, brought tears to my eyes. Part of me really just wanted to get up and dance! It brought me back to another time, when I was young, carefree and my body didn’t ache as much!

Go ahead call me menopausal, but I liked the movie. It had heart!

I must add here, go with your friends, husbands, wives, etc. Please do not take your 6 year old child in the hopes that said child will love the music so much they will sit quietly through a movie that is waaaaay over their little heads. The subject matter is adult, and the two little ones sitting in front of us, who were stuck sitting through a 2 hour movie so their Mom could see it, were bored to tears and really doing their best to ruin it for everyone else.

Do go see Mama Mia! I promise you won’t be disappointed and as our friends in Australia warned us, don’t go walking out of the theater until AFTER the credits have rolled through!

It’s entirely possible to view ones life in a day. You can see it flash before your very eyes if….you have a mother like mine, who tossed pictures in boxes and let them sit for 50 years! Today, my sister and I spent the entire day going through these boxes (and we know there are even more!) watching our lives unfold.

I was a cute enough kid growing up. I went from blond curls, to a pixie cut by the time I was 5. After that my hair grew in full and thick, but gone were the baby curls that my mother had so carelessly cut off. (I have never quite forgiver her for that!)

There were the pictures of me with my High School boyfriend, who became my first husband and the father of my two daughters. There were the pictures of me as I carried my two children through pregnancy. (I felt like no one had been as big as I was!) There were the pictures of me holding my babies for the fist time.

And there I was at the baptisms of my children… So small so sweet…that time flew by, too fast.

Then there I was with my current Hubby. The first few time I brought him to meet my parents and then the early years of our married life. Sharing the looks that only newly married couples share. Something so intimate and knowing.

Yes, my sister and I shared today. We watched our lives flash before our eyes. We watched our children grow, the birth of her grandchildren and the constant renewal of life.

In a flash…..

This weekend has been a quiet one. I think we all need those once in a while. Granted, yesterday was busy with all the cooking, but today I have just put my feet up and allowed the leftovers to feed us at mealtimes.

I’ve been thinking about where we were a year ago. We still had all the puppies, and all the fun that goes along with that. Hubby was still skiing a lot, although I had wrenched my knee and was down and out for the season.

Arnie now has a rating and as of March 10th if a cute little wire-haired dachshund female comes a calling for him, he is eligible for stud service.

Anneliese is improving with her shyness and she is just the sweetest little love ever. I’m glad she decided that she was staying. It’s funny when a dog picks you out like that! She’ll go to the dog show in September and we will see how she is rated. I think she will do well, if we can just get her over her shyness with strangers. If only the Judge were a child I’d be all set! LOL

Greta. Ah yes. A year ago she was still in charge of her brood. Now she treats Arnie and Anneliese like part of her pack, but not like her babies. Someday, Greta will go into heat again and I will stop obsessing about my dogs menstrual cycle!

Fritz, who was deathly afraid of the puppies a year ago, and wouldn’t even look at them, now plays with both the puppies and even lets Anneliese kiss his teeth. She just loves her “Uncle Fritz” and showers him with affection.

A year ago we had some snow, but nothing like the 4 feet of the white stuff that currently fills my back yard! This year driving around New Hampshire means going down roads that are like toboggan runs, with high snow banks on both sides.

Tonight the Oscar Awards will be on and I plan to plant myself in my chair and watch it all. Or almost…I usually can’t make it until midnight!

Could this be the year that they actually finish the Oscar broadcast on time?