Dackel Princess

Working The Program

Well, I had a great week last week and when I weighed in at WW on Wednesday, I had lost 2.4 pounds! I had also had a week where things went well. I felt good and strong in the program.

In fact, the meeting was sort of geared to the things I had done all week. And I never mind sharing.

It seemed everyone else was not talking, and so when the Leader asked questions, up went my hand, and I answered.

Finally, the Leader asked another question and I raised my hand and she said (sweetly, I might add), “Let’s give someone else a chance to answer.”

I was fine, really. I sort of felt like Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter books! Yesterday I actually had answers. Now what I need to do is take what I learned last week and keep applying it.

Honestly, it is not hard to put on weight, but it sure is hard to take it off!

Despite the weather (more rain), Jack and I managed to get all of our errands and meetings and appointments were taken care of on Tuesday. I meant we were up early (some of us earlier than others), wolfed down our breakfast and headed out to our various destinations.

Lili had been dosed with a strong tranquilizer, and she was amazingly good in the car. She was also easy to deal with in the Vet’s office and I am happy to announce that her ears are nearly healed! Yahoo! Finally! She has had these yeasty ears for years!

Next Anneliese had her stitches out. Her incision looks great. I asked this Vet what she thought of the pathology report and she said this:

“Anneliese is nearly 13 years old. She has had a wonderful life with you and Jack. She has been well loved. She is remarkably healthy and if her cancer does not spread quickly, the chances are very good that she will live another 2+ years! Think positive!”

She’s right. We will enjoy her and spoil her and take her for rides in the car and everything will be what it is. If we do this, then Anneliese will enjoy her life and we will enjoy her!

Our other appointments were accomplished on time and we sat down to a dinner of Scallops and Broccoli by six thirty! It was the end of a pretty good day!

Here & There & Everywhere!

As we continue with our busy-ness, Tuesday finds us having to be in four places in very short periods of time.

The Recycling Center, The Vets with Lili and Anneliese, A meeting with a financial advisor, and then a meeting with a company about the upper portion of our driveway that is very close to washing out.

So we are dividing up the jobs and we will hit the ground running right after breakfast.

Monday found us crazily doing all sorts of things. After a couple of years of not having a garden, I have gotten a few plants and will tend to patio pots this summer. I am actually pretty excited about this.

The Tourists have arrived here in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire! The traffic was bumper to bumper and I have to say that when I tried to merge into traffic, a car from New Jersey, and Vermont, refused to let me in. Finally, a New Hampshire car waved me in and I was able to merge. Ugh! Summer.

I do love the warm months, but I do not enjoy the Tourists, who seem to think they own the place and are rude. This is my town. I pay the taxes that keep this place beautiful and clean for you to enjoy! Bah! I sound like an old woman! Wait! I am an old woman!

I will leave you with this wonderful picture of a bee. I know many of you hate bees, but I was able to get this photo as the bee was pollinating our apple trees.

I love this picture. It is amazing what you can do with your cell phone camera!

The Weekend Wrap May 27, 2019

I’ve been crazily working myself each day. I stood at the counter yesterday, glanced at Jack and told him, I was tired!

I suppose I could recount all the things I did yesterday, but I think that would simply make you tired. Suffice it to say, we have clothes to wear, food to eat, and my dresser no longer looks like a catch-all for everything in that room!

I so enjoyed the sunshine and rather hot temperatures yesterday. After a bleak and cold Spring, it is nice to finally be getting some nice weather. The Apple Trees are blossoming and my Snowball bush has their chunky flowers, although they are still green, not having turned their beautiful white.

A beautiful Apple Blossom!

I cannot begin to tell you how much fun I had with the children at Savannah’s party! Three little ones and me in the pool! It was so much fun splashing around, watching the smiles on their faces and listening to their giggles! Did anyone get a picture?

I am hoping my daughter will have another pool type party soon and invite me and the kids!

I leave on my much-needed vacation in a week. I am not visiting anyone, I am simply going off to recharge my batteries. I cannot recall a year where I have been faced with so many challenges in the first half of the year, with absolutely no time to rest. So this is my time, and I plan to sleep, rest and just enjoy the quiet. Movie and books figure into this as well!

I will try to post each day, but if I miss you will know I slept in and was feeling lazy.

Anneliese gets her stitches out tomorrow, and Lili goes back for an ear re-check and her yearly shots. After learning that our girl is really too skittish both in the car and at the Vet, we have tranquilizers for her.

Anneliese, sound asleep and snoring. If you look closely you can see her little tongue sticking out!

Our 18-month-old coffee maker died. I seem to have no luck with any coffee makers since my 12-year-old Braun Coffee Maker died back in the 1990s! THAT was such a good unit. They do not make it anymore and after the 6 pots in six years Kitchen Aide fiasco, I’d hoped that the Cuisinart 14-cup one would last. Alas, that is not the case.

We do drink a lot of coffee in this house, and the machine is used to brew at least one, sometimes two full pots a day. Still, I think they should last longer.

So that’s the latest from New Hampshire. Enjoy your week my friends! Spring has finally sprung in the northern hemisphere!

Savi’s Pool Party & Cookout!

Yesterday the Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents all met up at Mandy and Matt’s place to celebrate Savannah’s 7th Birthday! How did this happen? One day I remember going to the hospital and meeting this little bit of sweetness, and now she is a grown girl of 7!

I have watched her grow and change and I am in awe of the sweet young girl she has become. She is kind to other children, and I know, her heart is big and she is full of caring for others. She is an amazing big sister to her little brother and puts up with a lot from him. He is her baby and she acts motherly toward him.

The pool was warm (it’s heated) so I went swimming with Savi, Quinn and darling little Lily. Three children under the age of 7! It was so much fun. I kind of floated around and the kids were doing cannon-balls around me to splash me, and each time I laughed and giggled and encouraged them to do it again! Oh, the joy of playing games with the little ones!

Soon we had our barbecue of hotdogs, hamburgers, popcorn, chips, salads and then birthday cake! A perfect kids meal!

Savannah opened her gifts and she worked at reading every card, for each gift. She did pretty well. But my suggestion to Hallmark is to make early reader cards for young ones!

She also made sure that the gift giver was nearby to watch her open the gift!

And then, she opened my gift. Oh my goodness I’ve been planning this since we went to Disney in January and I saw the way she enjoyed Moana!

I found an American Girl Wellie Wisher Doll, who looks like she is Hawaiian, and I also found the Moana outfit for the doll! Instead of giving her this separately, I took the doll out of the box and dressed her up in the outfit and put her back in.

When she opened the box and saw what it was she called out “Moana”!

Seeing the happiness and the delight, just made my entire day!

All too soon the day ended and we headed home. Lucky for us there was no traffic and we made the trip home in record time. With three happy doggies waiting for us!

My Girl, Anneliese

Looking back, I recall the moment 12 and a half years ago, when, on a cold December morning, Greta had a caesarian section, and I watched as one baby and then the next was lifted from her womb. Their small sleepy bodies, just squirming in this new world.

And the last to emerge was this tiny, squealing baby puppy. From the moment she drew breath, she was feisty and funny and although the smallest in her litter, she was the puppy always ahead of the others.

That’s my Anneliese. Full of spunk and never giving up on anything. Enjoying life to the fullest.

So yesterday, when I got her pathology report on the tumor and teet they removed a week ago, my heart just broke into a million little pieces!

Anneliese has Stage 4 Breast Cancer. There was a lot, and they were not able to get it all.

Some of you recall that I managed Shubi’s rare illness (GME) by doing chemotherapy here at home. The drugs ravaged her body, and in the end, she had no quality of life.

So, I have decided to do palliative care for her during the remainder of her life.

She will go for more car rides, she will get that little piece of bacon she craves, and she will be spoiled rotten.

I’m not sure why all of this is happening to one sweet little doggy. The eyes, and now cancer. It just is not right!

But she is loved deeply, and I will enjoy everything about her in the time we have left.

Anneliese’s Eyes

In the Harry Potter books and movies, during tough times for Harry, when he meets his parent’s friends, they almost all say the same thing.

“I would have known you anywhere, you have her eyes. You have your mother’s eyes.”

Lately, I have noticed that as Anneliese has aged, I look into her eyes, and I see Greta. Anneliese is so much like her mother in so many ways. She is spunky and feisty, and she is also not afraid of anything!

Greta was a wee bit more affectionate than Anneliese is, but Anneliese has her own way of showing her love for us, her owners.

Here is dearest Anneliese. Looking up at me with love in her eyes.

And here is her Mum, Greta, also looking at me. Oh my, how I miss this little pup. She was so devoted to me and I miss her constant presence.

So, when I look at Anneliese, and I see her mother staring back up at me, it is almost like Greta is soothing my broken heart. What a joy it is to see Greta in her daughter’s eyes.

Now I understand what JK Rowling meant when she wrote: “You have her eyes.” about Harry Potter and his mother Lily. It isn’t all about color or shape, rather it is about the soul and sweetness of the person, (or in this case my pup Greta and her daughter, Anneliese).

The Weekend Wrap May 19, 2019

What can I say? We had another weekend that was mostly cool and rain, until Sunday night, when it got very humid and we had a thunderstorm. First of the season!

Saturday I had the TV on listening (?) to the Rome Open Tennis, and the Preakness Horse Race. I managed to get quite a bit done, except I have not solved Jack’s computer dilemma.

Suddenly Thunderbird has stopped working for both of us. I switched to SeaMonkey, and that is fine, but the menu font is terribly small and I fear that Jack may have trouble. Still, he has to do something, because he cannot send an email.

Our email provider is no help with this, and so I keep trying to find answers. I spent far too much time on the computer, trust me on this!

Anneliese is doing well, and so is Lili. Today I took off her bandage and panties and let the air get at her belly. She was very grateful!

We are still waiting for our fruit trees to blossom. However, we do have a peach tree with few blossoms and we had one adorable Hummingbird that was enjoying the nectar!

Isn’t she (or he) adorable?

We also have had Blue Jays and Chickadees and also Baltimore Orioles. I am so enjoying the birds this year!

I love this time of year!

Up & Running!

I would like to believe I am computer savvy, but really, I think I am lucky more than anything.

Still, when our old Router showed signs of letting us down and not giving us the streaming video we would like, we knew it was time to splurge and get a new one!

I researched and we got a TP-Link AC1900 Smart Wireless Router – High Speed, Long Range, Dual Band Gigabit WiFi Internet Router. After it arrived, it was just a matter of setting it all up.

First, she is a beauty to look at, and what I did to help myself was to buy all new, highspeed cables, and then I lay everything out and made a checklist of steps of how to hook it all up.

Then I started and went methodically through each and every step until things were all set up. Then, I went to each TV, Amazon Fire Stick, Cell Phone, Tablet and such, and connected them to the new Network!

But, I did it all myself! I am extremely proud and I thank my teacher in all things computer, Brad, for patiently explaining things to me. I really was a little sponge and learned so much just by watching you! Thank you!!!

The Friday Five

What a crazy week.

The Big Bang Theory is ending. I recall 12 years ago when I watched this show for the first time. It has brought me so much laughter and joy, and I am thankful.

1. I guess the biggest news is that Anneliese had her surgery. It is sort of a doggy mastectomy. She has been in quite a lot of pain, and we will have the pathology reports next week. Meanwhile, I am trying to keep her contained and comfortable!

1. We’ve had peaks of sunshine, but actually more rain than I can remember for a long while. So very sick of rain!
2. My earlier wave of energy as far as bathroom cleaning has ended with both three clean bathrooms, and my back and neck are still intact! I swear it was temporary insanity!
3. I got my pictures back from the John Edward Event. I cannot thank my daughter enough for this. I had such a great time.

4. Jack is still not feeling 100%. I think he had a little virus. He was still very sleepy last night but did enjoy watching the Big Bang Theory with me.

5. In eighteen days I leave for my little getaway. I can hardly wait. 2019 has been such a difficult year, and I have really felt the need for some downtime.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone. I’ll be hooking up my new Router and getting all the TV’s, cellphones and such hooked up. I wish you all (and me) sunshine!

Author: Dackel Princess