Author: Dackel Princess

I woke up on Wednesday morning and found I could hardly move! I crawled into the bathroom and the pain in my back shot through my hips and up my spine. I managed a shower, and I dressed because gosh darn it, Wednesday is Weight Watcher Day and I wanted to weigh in! I just knew I’d lost weight!

I told Hubby to get up and wait for the Satellite Installer. Then I slowly walked down to the car. I drove to class and weighed in and found a nice loss of 1.2 pounds, and then I left and came back home! I grabbed my heating pad, and the dachshunds and sat down in my chair with my feet up.

I cancelled my dental appointment and rescheduled. I held off calling to cancel my eye exam on Thursday, hoping my back would feel better as the day went on.

The Satellite man arrived and did a lot. We got a new dish, new receiver, new remote controls and finally, after having an HD-TV for 2 years we had the service turned on.

The Installer was a nice man, who worked well, and got everything installed in record time. He showed us how to use all the buttons on the new remote (I sure hate to have to relearn things!) and how we will need to switch back and forth between cable and satellite settings on the TV.

The man also raises Labrador dogs for the handicapped. He was telling us that basically he and his wife have the dog for two years while they train them. Needless to say, he fell right in love with our Fritz! Fritz is the sweetest Shepherd known to man.

Once the upgrades were installed, all I could say is “OH MY GOSH”!!! It is amazing to see the picture so crisp and so “real”! Hubby and I watched the tennis, the Weather Channel and we were amazed how magnificent the picture quality was!

Toward the end of the day I was getting ready to call my eye doctor, when my cell phone rang. It was my eye doctor, canceling my appointment tomorrow. He has an emergency surgery and so they were calling to reschedule! I swear it was divine providence!

We managed easy meals from the freezer, and now I am watching the TV (happily), and in a bit I will go to bed and hope my back is better tomorrow!

Fingers Crossed!

1. Americans will celebrate Labor Day this coming weekend. Do you know what we’re actually celebrating? (without consulting your friends Google or wikipedia, ahem) What’s a project you’re currently ‘laboring’ over?

I’ve always thought it was a day to celebrate the workers of our country. I hope that’s right. Although in modern times, it is now the weekend we celebrate the end of the summer. Most people have barbecues (cookouts) with family and friends. Many go to the beaches or the lakes or the mountains. Occasionally there are fireworks, but celebrations are the key!

2. Labor Day also signals the unofficial end of summer for most of us…what summer food will you miss the most? If you’re in the southern hemisphere feel free to substitute winter for summer.

The fresh sweet corn and the tomatoes. Our fresh corn months are usually late July and August. We may get a picking in September, but not for long.

3. A well known proverb states, ‘It’s easier to seek forgiveness than ask permission.’ Your thoughts?

Ha! I’m one of those people who asked for permission because I was always afraid of the consequences! The few times I just did what I wanted as a kid (and got caught), I was in real trouble!

4. Food critic, film critic, book critic, art critic….which hat would you most like to wear?

Food critic. I can usually judge a good meal, or item that has been prepared. I am rather an eclectic art connoisseur. I like different sorts of books, not the ones everyone else likes. I enjoy movies, but my favorites tend to be “chick flicks” and not deep dark or violent movies.

5. When you were a kid, who (besides your parents) was your favorite adult?

Oh that’s tough because I had a wonderful assortment of characters in my family! There was my Uncle George, who really was more like a father to me than my own was. He taught me how to swim and dive, how to bowl, and spent time watching tennis with me on PBS. His wife, jokingly referred to as “Uncle Betty”, who had a magnificent sense of humor! My Grandmother Honey, who was a safe port in many storms in my life and my Papa Fred, who showed me what love was all about. He was devoted to my grandmother, and loved his grand-kids and great grand-kids.

6. The astronaut, Neil Armstrong, passed away last week. He was regarded as a hero by many generations of people all around the world. Do we still have modern day heroes? What makes someone a hero?

Not so much on a National level. I think every man or woman serving in the military, especially on the front lines is a hero. The local police and firemen, too. Unfortunately, there is so much corruption in politics, and our national programs, that I do not see them as heroes at all.

7. I never get tired of holding my granddaughter in my arms! She is such a blessing to her parents and to her grand parents!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I have no plans for this holidays weekend. Perhaps Hubby and I will just hang out and watch the US Open Tennis! You see Uncle George, where ever you are in Heaven, I’m still watching the tennis that you taught me to love!

Our host is Gattina. Come join us and tell us what YOU did this past weekend! After all, you never know when you will need an alibi!

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It was a very busy weekend here for me. Saturday I started a double batch of tomatoes simmering in a pot. Meanwhile, Hubby helped me to dice all sorts of vegetables for the sauce. As my freezer is completely full with chili and spaghetti sauce, I opted to make simple tomato sauce. The kind one uses to make lasagna. You can process this in jars and store it on the shelf.

I came up with 4 large jars of sauce, which I processed and are now resting with the other jars of canned yummy foods.

It did take most of the day, but it will be worth it in the end. We didn’t finish this project until 9 pm Saturday night.

I also attended the Fair on Saturday and on Sunday my calves aches from walking up and down the hills near my home. I better step up my conditioning before ski season, or I will be one very sore girl!

Sunday was a very nice day. It was hot outside, which is good for clothes drying, and I was able to get the laundry done, and to clean the kitchen and baths, so when I looked around, things really looked pretty good!

I gave Arnie a bath in the sink as he had gone out and rolled around in something terribly smelly! He did not like that too much, but waited until I was done and had given him a nice towel drying before he shook hard and raced off to roll in his doggy bed.

Not too much else happening here. Just as I’d hoped, Sunday was a fairly quiet day.

Have a great Monday, Everyone!

I’ve been out to lunch four times this past week! Different types of foods and two places that really didn’t offer salad type meals. What to do. what to do?

With Laurie, I had quiche and a salad and felt reasonably good about that. I also walked out of that restaurant and did not have dessert. That restaurant makes the best desserts around!

With Hubby, I tried to make sensible choices. Such as at the Chinese Buffet, I had things like Chinese Vegetables and Egg Foo Yong, and avoided the fried food that I really love.

With Vicki, we met at a restaurant where I ordered a sandwich that had mostly vegetables in it, and then tried not to eat too much of the bread.

With Mandy I went to a restaurant that actually had a salad and so I ordered one of those, with strawberries, mandarin oranges, and chicken.

However, I feel terribly guilty. I don’t feel in control of my eating when I am out and I worry that I am making the wrong decisions. After all, you do not know what they are doing in the kitchen while they’re preparing your meal.

So, tonight I am going to eat lightly. Just a small amount of steak, and some salad. And I’ll be drinking up a lot of water.

Meanwhile, I won’t need to go out for lunch for a bit! Which I am thankful for. You see, on Friday I put on dress slacks, with a fitted top and nothing was too small. I want to keep having that feeling.

And…here we go!

1. Seeing the eyes of my grand daughter, fills me with such joy and happiness!.

2. It’s never too late to share in God’s love!.
3. According to the weatherman, this weekend will be a nice one, so I think I will go walking downtown to the local Art’s & Crafts Street Fair!.
4. As we know, summer will come to an end and my favorite time of year will be upon us! Autumn.
5. I associate with people I love and care about and try like anything to avoid people who bring too much drama into it. Forget the drama! Life is good.
6. Long ago in another life, I was lucky to be the mother of two beautiful girls!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to tacos night, tomorrow my plans include laundry and perhaps going to the Arts Fair and Sunday, I want to go to the Arts Fair if I haven’t gone on Saturday!

This week’s Thursday Thirteen I will shed some light on some recent happenings in the world.

1. Prince Harry. We knew he was in Las Vegas and that he was having a good time.
2. Apparently, when he went there before, he met some beautiful girls.
3. So he went back to play “strip pool” with them and guess who lost?
4. Now there are pictures of the young Prince strutting around showing off the “family jewels”.
5. Even in my hey-day, when my body was young and buff, I would not have been caught dead playing “strip” anything.
6. Speaking of which, I lost another pound this week!
7. I went out for lunch today and had a great Crab Quiche!
8. I have another lunch date for Friday and I plan to order the BLT sandwich with Avocado!
9. Hubby and I are going to the Market today, as the cupboard is nearly bare and we need to stock up!
10. Today (Wednesday) was a beautiful day. Low humidity, milder temperatures and sunny skies!
11. I love having a closed computer system in the house now, but I gotta tell you. My Kindle somehow got deprogrammed and I had to punch in the 32 letter/number WPA password, and I went nuts! It sure isn’t isn’t easy to do it, especially when one of the numbers/letters is a ZERO (0).
12. I thought it was a capital O.
13. On my fourth attempt…I succeeded!!!

Monday, Monday! What a day!

I was up as usual and just after breakfast went out to shop for the last items I needed for all my cooking. Carrots, peppers and fresh ground beef.

I made a double batch of my Chili recipe with the fresh tomatoes from the garden, and a batch of hearty Chicken and Vegetable Soup with the leftover chicken from our dinner last night and broth I had made with the bones. (It’s easy to use your crock pot, put the bones in with water, onion, carrots and celery and set at low for about 24 hours!

So here I am with 8 more quarts of meals to be put up for the winter. But after 5 hours of preparation, stirring, and simmering, I’m just a wee bit tired!

Tuesday finds me driving down to see my girls! Mandy and Savannah! I can hardly wait. I have to say, spending so much time with them, has been the highlight of my summer!

Happy Tuesday!