Author: Dackel Princess

I’ve been listening to music most of the day. My cousin will hate it, but I’ve been listening to Paul McCartney. Not that she “hates Paul”, it’s just that he isn’t her favorite Beatle. But much of his music, especially in the early “Post Beatle” years speaks to me and I often drag out the old music and remember a time when I was a teenager with no problems, no cares and my biggest trauma was not having a date for the weekend.
Now all these years later, it is often comforting to listen. Often when I feel life has not been so kind. Or when I am feeling a little bit alone. I listen and feel, just for a moment ageless.
It was during this time that I saw and heard Pauls new song, and I fell in love with the words. It made me think about Hubby and feeling safe and being loved.

Follow Me (McCartney) –

You lift up my spirits, you shine on my soul
Whenever I’m empty, you make me feel whole
I can rely on you, to guide me through, any situation
You hold up a sign that reads, follow me.

You give me direction, you show me the way
You give me a reason, to face every day
I can depend on you, to send me to, any destination
You hold up a sign that reads, follow me, follow me.

Down the track of lonelines, down the path of love
Through the words of heartache, to the end
On the shores of sorrow, where the waves of hope crash in
The perfect place for me to find a friend. ahh yeah yeah yeah, oh

You lead to places, that I’ve never been
Uncovering secrets, that I’ve never seen
I can rely on you, to guide me through, any situation
You hold up a sign that reads, follow me, follow me,
Follow me, follow me,
Follow me, follow me

I woke up feeling “older” today. It could be the fever that I can’t seem to shake, or maybe it was the stiff neck that has plagued me since I got sick. Either way, I felt tired, achy and old. Bah!
The phone rang and it was my Australian friends to wish me a Happy Birthday! Great to hear their voices. It always amazes me how they can sound like they are next door when they are on the other side of the world!
Since I have been doing NOTHING for a few days, I decided that today I needed to shower and put on actual clothes! I’ve been living in my jammies for days and well, let’s face it, after a while, you start looking downright silly in pajama’s with kitty cats and puppy dogs on them. So, I hit the shower and scrubbed myself off and dressed in warm clothes. But I’m still freezing, (due to the fever) so I guess the blanket will be coming out to my chair to keep me warm.
After showering I had an easy breakfast and then looked at the kitchen and realized that either I had to do a little cleaning, or the crumbs would take over.
Then I did grown up stuff, like paid bills, went through the mail and started some laundry. I’ve got most everything under control now, except the laundry, which I will work on over the course of the day.

Anyone see “The Apprentice last night? I’m so glad Clay finally went home. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but was so hyper and critical, and that would have driven me nuts!

Fritz gets his stitches out today! His neck looks good and I think it will heal up well.

We had snow flurries this morning, off and on for about an hour. No accumulation, but the flurries looked very pretty swirling around the yard. Is winter around the corner? If it is, I’d better kick this cold soon, ski season is nearly upon us!

Well, my temperature is down to 99.5 this morning, and I slept a little better last night, although I was up in the night. I flipped on the TV and that helped to lull me back to sleep.
My daughter, Mandy, called me yesterday with the big news: She is now a home owner!!! She had her mortgage closing , and as she put it, is now in debt up to her ears, but happily so! I’ll go down next week to see her place. I can hardly wait!!!
We spoke to Old Boy’s son last night and learned he is back in Texas. Old Boy has a small house there and there is a lovely woman who cooks and cleans for him. I think Old Boy’s son will keep a closer eye on things now, and make sure his Dad is cared for.
Hubby is being pretty good. I think he realizes how sick I feel. He’s been making his meals and just kind of leaves me alone, which is good. I don’t have much of an appetite, and have been eating things like cream of wheat or chicken soup.
Well, back to bed…

Just a quick entry to let you all know I arrived home yesterday, and almost immediately got sick! High temperature, sore throat, cough, etc. After seeing my doctor today I came home with two prescriptions and orders to get the heck into bed and stay there for a couple of days.
Greta, Shubi and Fritz are all happily taking care of their Mummy and they are enjoying the almost constant naps I took today. And I can feel an early bedtime coming on tonight too.
Will keep you all posted.

Yesterday was the kids party. And WOW was it fun!!! One thing this old woman has learned though, is that I need to spend more time with young children. I was picking up 30-40 pound little ones, bending, stretching, sitting on the floor, rolling around, squatting to wipe mouths and generally contorting my middle aged body.
In the night I woke with the first mild muscle twinges that reminded me that I am not quite as young as I used to be! This morning in the shower I let the HOT water fall and I am feel a little more nubile!
My nephew planned a great game for these little ones, who ranged in age from 15 months to 6 years old. It was the get through the fire test. Basically it taught them how to get through a smokey room on their bellies, but it was full of fun stuff, like going down a slide, climbing a small ladder, tossing a water balloon, crawling under another ladder that had cloth flames on it, and then using silly string to put out the fire on the fire wall! The kids did that over and over and over again and they laughed and cheered and loved it.
Parents and the kids all enjoyed the day, with a pizza lunch and Grandma Honey’s cake (that’s what they call my sister).
A friend of my nephew, Tim, is a fire fighter and he brought over his gear for the kids to try on. Here is birthday boy Luke in the gear!!

Now, my sister is quite the ham, and not to be outdone by her grandson, so she hopped right into the fire fighter’s gear and grabbed little Molly.

The party was so much fun and the kids all had such a good time. I’m so glad I came down to share this day with them.
My grand nephew Taft.

My Grand niece Abby.

Last night my sister surprised me with a turkey dinner, with all the fixings! It’s my favorite meal, and one I never get for my birthday, (Nov. 17th) because, let’s face it, who wants to cook a turkey back to back in November?) In all my years I have never had a turkey dinner for my birthday, until last night. I was so happy and it was fabulous! Mel made my favorite chestnut dressing and butternut squash and mashed potatoes and gravy! And my Mom made me a super chocolate cake with butter creme frosting.
I got presents too! The boys, (Taft and Luke) helped me open my gifts. I got a new book by Barbara Delinsky, some perfume I love from my Mom, and a package filled with sheer delight from my sister! I say this because it was filled with all sorts of wonderful Dachshund items!! Dachshund Christmas tree ornaments, a book, and best of all this:

This is a hand painted sweat shirt of a wire haired dachshund that Melodie painted her self!!! It looks so much like my girls and I love it!!! Also in my goodie bag was a book on sisters!!! I sure am lucky to have such a special friend and sister like Mel, who worked so hard to make this birthday so special for me.

I reached my sister’s house about 3 this afternoon. We made a cup of tea and sat down with Taft, Mel’s 5 1/2 year old grandson to drink tea and talk. Lot’s of fun!!!