Dackel Princess

Christmas & Family Stuff

What’s Happening This Week…

Down 2 pounds at Weight Watchers this week. I like their new program, but like all new things, there really is a large learning curve…

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It is COLD right now. Seriously! I have long underwear on under my jeans, a turtleneck, a heavy wool sweater, and each time I go out, I bundle up with a down jacket, heavy gloves, and a Sherpa hat!

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And trust me on this. The dogs think it is fun to go out with me as often as they can, thus requiring me to dress up and then undress and then dress up and undress in all my heavy outside clothes!

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My menus are planned for the holidays. I have even decided on a great New Years Eve Dinner for Hubby and I, if we decide to stay in.

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Anneliese is feeling better today. She had gone out and eaten grass in the back yard (because we have NO SNOW), and this caused her to have a bad tummy for a couple of days. Anyway, today she seems to have turned the corner and is back to normal!

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Santa Paws was shopping today for Fritz and the dackels. Looks like it will be a good year for the beasts!

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Hubby skied again today. We have no natural snow, but thank goodness for snow-making machines as there is snow on the mountain ski runs!

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The office is nearly done. I’ll be dusting, vacuuming and finishing the last of the filing tomorrow. What a project! No one is allowed to go in there for any reason! LOL

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My next project is the formal Dining Room, which became our catch all room during the Christmas Card writing. Time to get the cards put away and wrap presents before I clean the room.

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Hubby decided to groom Fritz today inside. I mean, after all, it’s COLD outside, right? Well you should have seen the white fur flying around my house! I think I filled up a vacuum cleaner bag, just with his fur!

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I’ve been enjoying the Christmas Cards that have been coming in. I feel so blessed in my life, to be able to call these people friends.

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I’m sitting here watching Wheel of Fortune and I knew the puzzle loooog before the actual contestants! (Oh wait, that has nothing to do with Christmas and family does it?)

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My cousin Janet and her boyfriend sent us the most awesome Christmas card. Dave is a talented artist and he drew it! The card shows Janet and Dave in a sleigh with their dogs, Wolf and Max. It is the very best drawing! I can’t share it yet, because I must get the artists okay, but man, I wish I had that kind of talent!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. What does it mean to have the ‘holiday spirit’?

You know, peace on earth, goodwill toward men (and women). I believe it is a time for reminding ourselves how blessed we are to have the family and friends that we do, to celebrate the reason for the season and all the blessings in this life.

2. What sits atop your tree (s)? Why?

I have a glowing star and a porcelain china red-haired Angel.

The Angel is for my daughter Katie, who (I like to believe) is watching over me, just like this beautiful Angel.

3. When was the last time you gave yourself a pat on the back?

When I mailed my Christmas cards at the end of November! I was so proud of all my work, all of Hubby’s work and the fact that this year, I was organized!

4. Which of your senses is most sensitive this time of year?

My husband says my sense of cold…Haha…I think probably my emotions. It doesn’t take much for me to well up with tears. A TV ad, a Christmas movie, a picture from the past. So yes, my sense of feeling emotions.

5. What do you have too much of in your kitchen?

Pfaltzgraff! I have Pfaltzgraff’s Folk Art pattern dishes and I think I have almost every piece known to have been made! It really is beautiful and fun to be able to set the table with all the pieces!

6. What do you do for meals on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? Big meal? Breakfast tradition? Open the cookie tins and have at it?

We’ve decided to have fondue on Christmas Eve. I’ll also make a nice garden green salad and roll some deli meats. For dessert I will make a pumpkin pie.

Christmas Day Morning we will eat scrambled eggs, with bacon and German Stollen Bread! (The Stollen is tradition.) About 2:30-3:00 I will set out some appetizers and then I plan a Rib Roast of Beef for about 6 PM, served with twice baked potatoes, butternut squash, green beans and pearl onions. Will also make apple pie for dessert.

7. What is the best thing about winter?

Fires in the hearth! Skiing. Playing with the doggies in the snow. The silence of snow when it is falling.

8. As the days draw closer to Christmas, I am actually pleased to say that this year I am ready for it! Last year I was not prepared and then had surgery on December 20th, so I never really finished preparing for the holidays. Maybe this is totally crazy, but there is less stress when you are prepared early on.

My List Of Favorite Christmas Movies

Good morning everyone. I started to think about my favorite Christmas movies over the weekend. What movies do I watch, year after year, that make it feel like Christmas to me? Well here is a top ten list for you. It has my current favorites, although occasionally it changes and I either add a new one or include another one, thus making ties for favorites, as this group must be seen each year.

I’m aware that some of you may not have seen all of these due to where you live and the availability of programs. I’ve tried to give a brief accounting of each as I go along.

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10. The Santa Clause (1994) with Tim Allen. The movie is based on the premise of what would happen if a man suddenly found out that he was Santa Claus after the “real” Santa falls off of his roof!

9. Home Alone (1990) – The first one, not the sequels! A really good family film for the holidays, except there’s no family! Funny gags, hilarious antics and truly feel-good moments as well.

8. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965 – TV) – I know it’s a made-for-TV movie, but to ignore it would be stupid. Generations of kids have grown up on it.

7. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964- another made for TV movie) – Rudolph is wonderful, even with his jerky movements and static sets and Hermey the misfit elf, Yukon Cornelius the prospector and the Bumble seem timeless. Burl Ives singing, never gets old!

6. A Christmas Carol (1938) – The best version of the well-worn Dickens literary classic. At a mere 70 minutes in run-time, it’s a short but sweet classic.

5. White Christmas (1954) Bing Crosby singing “White Christmas” is the definition of the holiday season. And this happy, colorful 1950s musical. Many of you never got to hear Bing Crosby or Danny Kaye sing, but they sure were special!

4. Miracle on 34th Street (1947) The story of a little girl who’s cynical about life and the department store Santa who teaches her to believe in magic. The sweetest story of love and belief and the Christmas spirit.

3. The Bishop’s Wife (1947) – Who doesn’t like Cary Grant as an angel? Features a great movie quote: “The only people who grow old were born old to begin with”.

2. A Christmas Story (1983) If you haven’t seen this off-beat holiday movie, then get thee to the video store now. Ralphie’s Christmas quest for a Red Rider BB Gun will make you laugh until your funny bone is sore.

1. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) Oh, George Bailey! Our hearts break for him every year as we watch him do the right thing and only to be knocked down again and again. If you don’t cry at the end — when George is surrounded by all the lives he changed — then you might need to take up residence with the Grinch. It’s my favorite Christmas movie of all time!

I’ll be watching this next week as I do my Christmas wrapping. It’s sort of a tradition for me now. Me and the Baileys, and scissors and bows!

What I Did Last Weekend

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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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As you all know, when last you left me on Friday, I had begun the enormous task of cleaning out my office and doing the filing!

Currently I have three large trash bags of old correspondence, and once I clean out the file cabinet I expect another trash bag as well. I’ve decided that I have turned over a new leaf and from this day forward I will maintain a neat office!

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Also, on Saturday night I woke to the sounds of a dog on the verge of throwing up. I jumped out of bed, grabbed the dog (Anneliese) and we leapt to the bathroom where she got sick in the toilet! She had eaten some dirt and grass on Saturday and that turned her tummy inside out. She is fine now and back to her usual self.

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Besides the office, I did watch a couple of movies on the TV and the Patriots football game. After all a girl needs some down time, right?

Today I plan to finish up the office and begin cleaning the formal dining room, which currently has all my Christmas card items, lists, return address stickers and stamps, and get that room in ship shape as well.

This neatness thing is almost more than my relaxed housewife self can stand!

Happy Monday!

Question!

I was sitting here in the early stages of planning our Christmas foods and I started to wonder, what foods make it Christmas for you?

So far I have planned a nice rib roast for our actual Christmas Dinner. I’ll be serving green beans, butternut squash and braised pearl onions. I’m also thinking baked stuffed potatoes would be nice.

However, I’m totally not sure what to make for Hubby and I on Christmas Eve for dinner. I want to cook something special, a little lamb roast perhaps?

So, my question today is three-fold. What food makes it Christmas for you, and what does your family do for Christmas Eve Dinner? Does your family do anything special on Christmas morning for breakfast? Anything that you HAVE to have?

Please everyone comment and tell me all about your traditions. I’m looking forward to hearing your answers.

Meanwhile, it’s back into the office for me. I’ve been working hard and I think I will be done by Monday or Tuesday.

The Office

On Thursday I decided to jump in and start to dig out clean out my Office. This was a result of my having to find some documents for Hubby and not being able to find them, because I haven’t filed anything for about three years.

I’ve used shopping bags, and actual file boxes, cardboard boxes and even chairs to stack papers. Yes, that show “How Clean Is Your House” would have had a field day in that office. In fact, they still could.

Except that, today I plan to give it a good three hours in there to work on all the papers that I dragged out and started sorting through.

The ultimate goal is to get the office organized enough so that I can rearrange some things and set up an actual system that works to follow. One where I can easily access files without having a nervous breakdown .

Our office is a pretty room. It’s lemon chiffon yellow, and overlooks our lake. I would dearly love the files in there just to hold our monthly bills and receipts. Other than that I would like our computer software and books to have a home of their own in there too.

So wish me luck and if you hear screaming, followed by insane laughter, then you can almost be certain it is me, going crazy as I attempt this herculean task!

Happy Birthday

Four years ago, Hubby got up in the morning and I told him that I thought that Greta would be having her puppies soon. He examined her and said, he thought he could get a few runs in skiing, but to call if things got going, and off he went!

Greta looked at me, with eyes that related to me just how miserable her contractions were, and I knew that things were getting close.

Then, all of a sudden, things just sort of stopped. Then started again, and this went on for about an hour. I called the Vet. and took her in.

It was, of course, a Sunday, and so my Vet. had to get his staff to come in and assist in the delivery. You see, we had one very large baby and then 4 “normal” sized ones. That was the day that Arnie and Anneliese were born.

I called Hubby, who had just gotten up to the slopes, and he turned around and came home, and made their birth!

Arnie was the only boy, and Anneliese was born squealing loudly! I didn’t know then, which puppy I would want to keep, and I certainly never expected to keep 2, especially a male dog, as I had never been a boy dog fan, but I digress…

That was December 10th and by Christmas I knew Anneliese was doing to be my forever puppy girl and two months later Arnie was rejected by the people who’d wanted to buy him, and he remained, forever with us.

Now I can’t imagine life without my two little A-Litter Puppies. I call them “The Twins” even though they aren’t, and if they are outside I will call “Puppies” and they will both turn their heads and run towards me!

Anneliese has gone on to have her own babies, and “Uncle Arnie” babysat and helped his sister out with the babies. It was just so cute!

And in life, they are the very best of friends. When I look back having sibling puppies has been one of the best things I have ever done, even if it was absolutely by accident!

Arnie and Anneliese Birthday from Dackel Princess Maribeth on Vimeo.

Friday Fill-Ins

Header:

1. I wish I were on a cruise.

2. This cold snap with no snow on the ground is wrong...that’s what I’m thinking.

3. Please bring snow before Christmas.

4. Life is so amazing.

5. One of my fondest hopes is to see my family and friends happy in their lives.

6. Hubby helped me with the Christmas letter and I just wanted to say thank you.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to. a fire in the hearth, tomorrow my plans include more work in the office and Sunday, I want to read the Sunday paper and drink copious amounts of coffee!

Christmas Isn’t Presents

My good friend, Doug James, has just released this touching Christmas song! Please listen and pass along this link, as we spread the true meaning of Christmas around the world.

Doug’s talent as a singer and songwriter are well known and those of us lucky enough to call him our friend, are thrilled that he has released this beautiful piece for Christmas 2010! Thanks for such a special Christmas song!

Merry Christmas! Listen and enjoy!

You can learn more about Doug and his music by visiting DOUG’S WEBSITE.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Have you ever been on a real sleigh ride? How about the warm weather version – a carriage ride?

Yes, Hubby took me on a carriage ride during “First Night” in Boston many years ago.

2. What’s your policy on ‘chain mail’…you know, the emails you receive that are often some sort of poem/blessing/good wish that ask you to send it on to 10 or 12 friends? Do you delete without opening, read and trash, read and trash and then worry you won’t be blessed/lucky/protected? Do you delete the sender from your contacts or just go ahead and send the love onward?

Oh, I really hate ‘chain mail’. I wish people would not send me them. Sometimes I get them, and they’re cute, with puppies and kittens, so I’ll forward, but delete the ‘chain mail’ part saying I will have 30 years of bad luck if I don’t send them to 29 people in the next 10 seconds!

3. Who is your favorite character in any of the Christmas movies and why?

Clarence the Angel in “It’s A Wonderful Life”.

~Dear George, Remember no man is a failure who has friends. Thanks for the wings, Love, Clarence.~

4. Share a favorite quote.

~ Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?~

5. What’s your favorite holiday scent?

I love the smell of Snickerdoodle cookies baking in the oven! All spicy and cinamonny!

6. Does the Christmas season stress you out? In what way?

Yes. I think because expectations are high and people are rushing around, and often people tend to forget to enjoy the reason for the season.

7. What’s the best thing about your life right now?

Love. The love of a wonderful husband, fabulous daughter, family, friends and furry pups. I also have decorated my house for the holidays and I am really enjoying the beauty of the lights and seeing all my much loved ornaments again.

Since I am nearly done with decorating the living area in our house, it’s now time to clean the rest of it up. My least favorite part of the holiday season. Oh well, it must be done!