Author: Dackel Princess

The Week That Was (Or Will Be!)

I got a call from the hospital today asking to pre-register me for my upcoming surgery on Wednesday. Fine, I said, let’s do it. So we went through a list of questions.

Name: Maribeth

Date of Birth: November 17, 1958

Next of kin: Hubby

Primary Care Doctor: Dr. C.

Insurance: Yes.

Did I want to sign up for a new program that involves setting up an automatic payment with a credit card once the Insurance company has paid their share?

Hm. I had to think. What is the advantage?

Well, the advantage is that after the Insurance company pays their share we get a 20% discount off of what we must pay. By using the credit card we save them having to bill us.

I talked to Hubby about it over lunch and we decided to go with it.

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I had no sooner hung up the phone with the Hospital Office Personnel, than my phone rang again and it was the Operating Room Scheduling Nurse. She told me that my surgery will be at 1 PM on Wednesday which means Hubby has to have me there by noon. Then she needed to ask me her questions.

Medications: Yes.

Diabetic: No.

Smoker: No.

Drinker: No.

In four short questions this woman learned that I am a totally boring woman who drinks tea.

She told me I could have nothing to eat after midnight, although one 8 ounce glass of apple juice was allowed. Gee, isn’t that nice!

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Once I was done with her I was starting to make Hubby his favorite potato salad, when the phone rang again. It was my dentists office reminding me that I have an appointment tomorrow. Yep, I knew that! It’s on my long list of things I am doing this week.

I finished that, made lunch and once that was done Hubby left to go work on one of our town parks, and I finished making the potato salad.

The phone rang again, and it was my hair stylists office reminding me of my appointment with her tomorrow directly after my dental appointment. Yes, I must be beautiful for my plastic surgeon! LOL!

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Then Greta and I were off to the Vet for her exam. She is doing better, but still has a little mastitis and must be on antibiotics another week. She was a very happy girl to go out for a ride in the car, and to see everyone at the Vets office.

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Arriving home we met up with Hubby and now we’re cooking out the last of our marinated chicken breasts for dinner. Tonight is an easy meal night, and then tomorrow I will cook a little so that on Wednesday when I get home I can just sit and Hubby can wait on me!

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So life is busy, and I am trying very hard to keep things in balance all this week. I have to say, things are not usually so chaotic. It’s not that I am a lazy person, far from it, as I have four dogs and a husband to keep up with, but I do like my tranquility, my slow paced life and I will be glad when it is mid July and I am back to living my normal, quite existence.

New Software

After months of frustration I asked Goofy Girl Designs to move Dackel Princess to a new platform with new software. You see many people were having trouble commenting as Movable Type kept kicking commenters to the curb! I am hoping that the new software will enable people to comment without a problem, while still keeping the spam away. I’m learning the new software myself now and so I hope you will all bear with me during this learning time.

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This is a busy week for me. Tomorrow I am taking Greta to the Veterinarians as she is still in the throws of a false pregnancy. I am worried about her. I hope the Vet has good news for me.

Tuesday is also a big day as I have my teeth cleaning and an appointment with the fountain of youth to get my monthly hair dip! Lord keep me from showing all that gray hair!

Wednesday is, of course my surgery. I admit to being nervous, but in the end, it is the right thing to do and I’ll just have to accept a little line on my nose when it’s all over ad healed.

My parents will be celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary on Saturday and my sister and I are hosting a party for them on Saturday. I’ve selected my outfit. It’s a silk two piece skirt and top I got a few years ago at Liz Claiborne. It’s light and soft and should be comfortable in the summer heat.

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So, let me know how you like the new software. Is it easier to comment, etc. Thanks again to Heather for doing all of this work!

Dackel Princess For President?

I’ve always steered clear of making political statements on Dackel Princess. In fact, I don’t believe it’s my place to tell anyone how to feel politically. However, I received this from a friend and now I have to speak out.

Once I conferred with the dackels I decided on our basic platform.

Soft cushiony beds in every home. Milk bones left in a dish on every table and belly rubs at least twice a day for all doggies.

For the people it was champagne and chocolate and gasoline for every car! We’ll make people be nice again, and help each other out. Vacations will be longer and work days shorter.

The sun will shine, the moon will glow and happiness will abound!

Our Party

Today was the 4th of July. Independence Day. It’s also the day that Hubby and I like to spend entertaining our friends. The weather was perfect today, around 80 degrees, and the sunshine was bright. We set up our back patio with a picnic table as well as tables and chairs and by one o’clock we were sitting outside enjoying the day.

There was way too much food to eat (so Hubby and I won’t have to worry about meals for the rest of the week), and much talk and laughter, and dogs and kids running around the back yard. It was wonderful and chaotic and totally enjoyable!

Here is a short video montage of our day.

Happy 4th of July everyone!!!

Prelude to the 4th

There are times when I ask myself how I have made it to 49 years old! Let me tell you just a little about my day and I hope you will think it is as funny as I do.

Actually the first part of my day was very productive. Hubby and I got up early, had our breakfast and got out of the house by 8:45 to go grocery shopping for our 4th of July party. The stores were not overly crowded and we were able to get our shopping done in a few hours. We loaded everything into the trunk, placing the cold items in coolers. We stopped and paid a fortune to tank up the car, had lunch at the Chinese Buffet before arriving home.

We were greeted by the 4 dogs with such happiness and sheer joy that it took my breath away. How on earth could I ever survive without these guys?

Of course once home we had to unload the car. Now the trunk was full, the back seat, and even the floor in the back seat! We got everything in, the cold stuff put away and then the fun began.

I made two different marinades, chopping garlic and onions and mixing measured amounts of oils, vinegars and herbs, and whisking it all together. Then Hubby cut up the steak into cubes for the kebabs, I peeled the shrimp and after about 45 minutes of doing this, we took the beef and shrimp and put them in to marinate over night.

Hubby disappeared to do his yard work, and Emily and I worked on the next step of the preparations. We boiled the potatoes for the potato salad, and eggs for deviled eggs. I chopped the vegetables for the salad, made the dressing for the potato salad, and once the potatoes were done, cubed them and mixed the dressing and vegetables together.

I stepped back. It looked like a bomb had gone off in my kitchen. I think I used every dish, spoon, and measuring cup I own! So for the next hour I worked cleaning up the mess, loading the dishwasher and hand washing the other things.

I sat down briefly and sipped some lemonade, before I microwaved a meal for Hubby and myself.

That done, I decided I needed to do two things to end my day. First I wanted to empty out the Puppy pool and clean it out, so tomorrow we could put fresh water in it. So I went out, emptied the little pool, took it over to the side of the house and sprayed it off. The hose has a great jet setting that really shoots the water! What a great job it does.

When I got done I dropped the nozzle on the ground and it turned itself back on and was spraying me!!! I reached down and I swear to you, it was like the hose turned into a snake! I got soaked!!!

I stood there, with Anneliese watching me and I burst out laughing! Soaking wet and no one to blame for the drenching but myself!

I came inside and got on my nightgown and some dry underwear and socks and sat down to write my blog. I was about half way through the entry when my mouse slipped and POOF!

My entry was completely gone!

I did everything I could think of to find it and then I decided that it was gone for good. Thus, instead of hearing about what I plan to do at our 4th of July party, you get to hear about the build up to it and the silliness I myself inflicted upon…..myself!

So I am staying away from the hose for the rest of the night, and I have placed my mouse in an area of safety so it will not erase my entry.

It’s been a long but very good day!

Life Is Beautiful!

Life is full of beautiful moments, and we never know when they might appear. The best we can do is be prepared at all times with a camera or perhaps a sharp eye, so that the beauty of nature doesn’t just pass us by.

Recently I witnessed two totally beautiful parts of nature. I was also lucky enough to run outside with my camera and take these two pictures to share with you.

The first was taken a few days ago as the sun was setting. I looked outside and noted that we were having a light rain. I grabbed my camera and went to the back door to find this rainbow.

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I wish it had come out a bit better, but I think if you click on it and see the larger size picture you will be able to see the rainbow a little better. I felt a lightness and a warmth when I saw it. It made me think of happy times on Cape Cod when I was a child. We had many rainbows there, and not too many up here in New Hampshire where I live now.

The next picture I took last night as the sun was setting. I glanced out the front window, I saw this and grabbed the camera and ran to the front door. I took several pictures, but I liked this one the best. It’s amazing that as quickly as the moment arrived with the vivid colors, they were gone and darkness fell.

July 1 001

Yes, life is beautiful!

By A Nose Par Deux

Today I met Dr. S. A nice man a tad older than me. He examined my schnozzola (nose) and gave me several options. First his diagnosis is more than likely Basal Cell Carcinoma. Not a big deal as it is very common for people “my age” to have these lesions appear. It is also very treatable. He gave me three options as to how to resolve this. First to have the lesion excised in surgery, which would leave a small line on my nose. The second is to do a “punch” biopsy, which would leave a scar and might require more surgery later, and lastly to scrape the lesion for a biopsy, and that also can leave a scar, and would require more surgery if it was positive. I opted for the first option. I’m going in next Wednesday for out patient surgery. They will do a frozen section on the tissue and we will know then and there. The scar will be a simple line and will fade quickly.

I also got the results of my “Glucose Tolerance” test. I am Hypoglycemic. This will require a change in diet, and a more careful monitoring of my blood sugar levels. I was a bit miffed at how on earth I could improve my diet, after all I am following Weight Watchers, but the doctor told me I need to cut out simple carbohydrates and starchy foods, like pasta, white bread, sugar, etc, and opt for whole grains, more protein and vegetables. He also wants me to eat 5-6 small meals a day. “Graze”, he said. “Graze”.

So, I am feeling a little old. I’m sure once I get things under control I will be okay, and it won’t bother me so much. I guess it’s just another adjustment that you make as your life goes on.

A Day With The Dackel

What an ordinary day today was. Well, except for the strange man, who caught me in my back yard in my pajamas early this morning, while I was walking Greta. I mean, aside from that, it was pretty normal.

Yes, a strange man appeared while I was outside walking Greta. It was such a lovely morning that I had slipped over to the garden to check on my crops. I have the tiniest Summer Squash, and all the other plants are flowering, so hopefully I will have zucchini and cucumbers soon…

I digress.

The man was hired by my neighbors to cut down a bunch of trees. These trees are not on our property, however the woman that owns the house next door is a tree fanatic and actually sued another man for cutting a tree down on her property line. Her husband had assisted the tree cutter, so we all thought that by the time it got to court it would be thrown out. That didn’t happen and the poor tree cutter had to pay her $5000.00 for that one tree! So while I stood there in my pajamas, feeling practically naked, even though I had perfectly nice pajamas on, I warned this man about her.

He disappeared and we have not seen him or heard his chair saw since.

I was actually quite productive after that because I ran inside, dressed in work clothes and proceeded to clear up some things inside the house before heading back outside and weeding in the garden.

In the afternoon I tossed down my gardening gloves and came in and whipped up one of Hubby’s favorites. I made “Stuffed Green Peppers” for dinner. There isn’t much that I cook that Hubby doesn’t like. He is so easy. The recipe is in the extended entry.

Yes, it was another day and another meal at the Dackel Diner!

Continue reading “A Day With The Dackel”

The Dackel Weekend Review

We are having a party here on Friday. It’ll be for the 4th of July. Independence Day! We’re doing the usual barbecue, but instead of hot-dogs and hamburgers, we’re going to do kabobs. Steak, chicken and shrimp. Should be good, right?

Well, it will be providing we have decent weather. You will recall that last year we started outside and due to rain quickly had to head in and eat our barbecued food under cover.

So, this year I am planning ahead. Although I will hope that we can enjoy this holiday ritual celebration outside, I will have our screened in porch and dining room cleaned up and ready for immediate occupancy. I think I’ll get Emily to help me this week do that major little cleaning job.

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My test appointment on Friday was……well interesting. Interesting in that I was forced asked to drink a container of orange liquid, which reminded me of Zarex, a kids drink from the 1960’s which is probably 99% sugar. Then they held me down and took blood every hour on the hour for three hours. At the end of this I had a severe low blood sugar attack, which felt like my body had been slammed into a brick wall. I crawled into a “Subway” restaurant and they fed me orange juice and a tuna roll up until I was stable enough to leave. Ah yes, it was a fun day.

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It appears that Bloglines has gone crazy. I check my feeds and I find I have several thousand new posts. Now come on. It’s the summer. It’s a Sunday. No one is writing their blogs, but me. What gives?

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I was in the yard with the dogs when our neighbor’s cat came waltzing across our front yard. He stopped took one look at the dogs, and ran. They in turn ran after him and I in turn ran after the dogs, yelling like a banshee! Not a pretty sight. The owners of the cat managed to pick it up and then yelled at me because my dogs were chasing their cat. I didn’t say much of anything because after all, my dogs simply chased the cat out of their yard. However, I must say it was terribly exciting at the time!

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And lastly, my daughter was up today with her boyfriend “M”. He is a very nice man, very handsome and entirely entertaining. I just love his sense of humor. I promised not to write too much about their visit on my blog, but I will post this one picture of them together.

June 30 001


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I hope everyone had a great weekend!