Dackel Princess

Milestones

I am thrilled to announce a rather big milestone for me. I started this journey for weight loss, healthful living, and being able to look into the mirror and like the person, I was seeing, back on January 1st.

It has not been easy, but I’ve been so faithful and decided that this wasn’t something I was going to do partially, but a change I will make for the rest of my life.

…Drum-roll, please…

…I have now lost…

I’m not quite done, although I am very close to my goal weight. And when I look at the grand total lost, I am so proud of myself.

I’ve been blessed with a group of 12 women. Despite Covid, we have gotten together each week and shared our journeys together. Several of these women I have known since 2008. They’re family.

A few times along the way I called one or the other of them as I was close to blowing the whole thing. They all had my back.

It is tough. Some days are harder than others, some are easier. In the end, it has all been worth it.

So today, as I celebrate 60.2 pounds gone, I wanted to share that as hard as this is if you want it enough, and believe in yourself, you can do it too!

Cooking Day

Monday was a cooking day. I made 2 meatloaves for the freezer, put some steak to marinate in fajita seasoning, and lastly, made six stuffed peppers for our dinner. I also made two small pies in my mini cast iron pans for dessert tonight.

Before you fear for my WW diet, I was careful to make everything point friendly and healthy!

I will be honest with you all. I was in this crazy cooking mode because I wasn’t handling my feelings very well as I struggled to handle Katie’s birthday. I felt so very sad.

I imagine I could have simply sat motionless and crying all day, but I decided to be proactive and just keep working it out.

So, I was whipping around the kitchen staying busy. I only nicked my thumb once and burnt my hand slightly. All caused by being careless.

I did do one other thing. I subscribed to “Britbox” on Amazon Prime. Now I can watch a few of my old favorites like “All Creatures Great and Small” and “The Vicar of Dibley”. Both of these shows fill my heart in different ways.

I’m healing well and I think, in the end, I’m going to look okay. For this, I am eternally grateful.

Remembering Katie 11/8/1978 – 6/19/1985

Each year I remember Katie on her birthday. When you lose a child so very young, (Katie was 6 and a half years old) the harsh reality is, that she is frozen in time.

The pictures I have are the only ones I will ever have. Taken with cheap cameras, because back then, there was no such thing as a digital camera or cell phones that actually took pictures. You had to buy film, pose a shot and then hope upon hope that when your pictures came back you captured something good. One never really knew.

These are the best pictures of Katie with her Dad, sister, Mandy, and me.

What a neat kid she was. Usually happy and cheerful, she loved music, art, and dancing. She adored animals and was quite a gentle soul.

The day she was born, found me waking very early for her 5:30 AM debut. She was a little smaller than Mandy at birth but had her very original wisps of curly red hair. My baby.

I miss her a great deal. It’s actually hard to describe. It’s the hardest thing I have ever had to go through. Not wanting to, but having no choice.

I learned to go on, but always and forever, there is a piece of me missing.

Happy Birthday to my darling, youngest daughter in Heaven. Some day, one day, I will see you again.

The Friday Five November 6th

It’s been a crazy busy week and as I sit here on Thursday night, I see a weekend filled with even more fun and exciting things. Here we go.

My sister has given me Ancestry.com’s package for my birthday. I believe this is her last attempt to disinherit me, but we will know in a few weeks. I mailed my spit in today and they will email me the results soon enough.
Meanwhile, I have started doing the genealogy on their website. My sister has done a lot and I have linked to her site, but I have also been working with my husband’s family, and while researching I discovered a child that no one ever talked about in Jack’s mother’s family. I imagine this child probably died young.
Anneliese seems to have perked up since starting the Gabapentin. I am hopeful that it is helping her.
A week ago I ordered 25 spanking new Spice Bottles.I cleaned the entire stove, the shelf in the back, and I took the fan screen down and cleaned that too. Then I filled each container and used the labels provided. Now my stove looks so good!
And lastly, my incision is healing very well. I think once the inner stitches dissolve, the area will be less puffy and will lie flat.

So, that’s all for this week. I hope you all have a good weekend!

This & That November 5th

I am somewhat tardy in writing today’s post. I nearly gave up because I have a new time-consuming activity that quite literally consumed me most of yesterday.

First, Anneliese’s medications were changed and we hope that this will bring her comfort. I am shifting my position of enjoying my baby in the last weeks or months of her life, as I cannot allow myself to remain hopeful that she will live even a year.

So she is being spoilt rotten by me and she will want for nothing. My fierce little girl, the runt of her litter, who was born into my hands from her Mama Greta’s belly. The girl who picked me out and has loved me for nearly 14 years.

Me with my baby Anneliese. I think she was about 12 weeks old here.

Okay, onto my new time-consuming hobby. For my birthday my sister gave me a kit for Ancestry.com.

You spit into a tube and they send you your DNA breakdown. Part of me thinks my sister is still trying to prove that we are not related, LOL, but when I went onto the site to register my kit, I got sucked right in.

The next thing I knew I was following clues and leads and mapping out family members from my family, first husband’s family, and second husband’s family. In fact, Jack was thrilled when I found the first leap from England to Canada in his family.

My sister has done a lot already mapping our own family and last night I was able to tap into her lines.

All this kept me awake until nearly 9:30 when I called it a night! But the first thing I thought of this morning was to get back online and keep digging.

I think one of the things that hit me was that back in the 1800’s and early 1900’s so many people lost children. It made me think of my Katie (whose birthday is on Sunday) as I entered her small life into my family tree.

So that’s what is happening here. Me, stuck in front of my computer looking at the past lives of relatives long since gone. So interesting.

No More Stitches!

Tuesday found me going in many different directions. As it was our Election Day, I dressed up warmly (It was only in the ’20s with a brisk wind) and I went and voted. Done!

Next, I went and filled up my car with gasoline, and stopped and got a container of oatmeal. I sat and had breakfast before heading into the grocery store and buying a few things. Done!

Then I was off to the doctors where I got the best news. My pathology report was back and the tumors were all benign! Yay!

My stitches were removed and I feel pretty good about things. While the doctor was cleaning the tumors and scar tissue he managed to give me a beautifully lined up eyebrow!

Please pardon the “hat-hair”. It was so very cold and windy and a hat was the only way to keep my ears warm.

I drove home and made lunch for the two of us, and then I noted that Anneliese isn’t feeling her best. I’m worried so this will mean a visit to our Veterinarian fairly soon.

We now go into the giant waiting game to find out who has won our Presidential Election. Personally, I believe our voting system needs to be reformed. There are just too many ways for people to cheat.

November Arrives Like A Freight Train!

I woke to the sounds of high winds blowing around my house. It resembles a freight train at times when our wind is blowing full force out of the north-west. Not only was the wind blowing, but at 5:30 am our temperature was just 22 degrees (F). So it was very cold!

I stumbled to the kitchen, turned on the coffee maker, and let the dogs outside. As soon as they came in (and they returned very quickly due to the cold!) I jumped into the shower and then into my thermal-lined clothes.

I got my coffee and then watched multiple episodes of The Dog Whisperer. It’s one of my favorite shows. In fact, I’ve been working with Lili training her to do simple polite things, like sit down when she comes in to await her cookie. The dog is smarter than I am.

I made meals, went out to get our mail, only to find I had four packages at the Post Office! I knew they were coming, but all at once? That is something I did not expect!

Tuesday I get my stitches out. I can hardly wait. In the last two days, the site has swollen and been very sore. So I am happy the doctor will be removing the stitches and hopefully, I will get some relief from that.

Tuesday is also election day and so once I am done at the doctor’s office I will swing home and pick up Jack and we will go and vote.

I repositioned my bird feeders today, as with this type of cold weather, the ground will be freezing soon, so I wanted to make sure they were in the correct spots for the winter. We are good to go!

I will leave you with this little joke I ran across. Please pardon the salty language, but this is exactly what my two dachshunds are thinking right now.

Enjoy the day and for those of you who are in the USA, be sure to go out and vote!

The Weekend Wrap

Well, I was sitting here writing this entry and I went to add the header and the footer for my piece. I added the header and saved it and what should I see when the little tab stops spinning? Nothing! My computer ate my entry. I am unsure why, but it is gone! So, after lunch, I will try to write something else. Rewriting it all, just wouldn’t be the same.

Okay, so I think I will do a bullet list instead of a normal entry. I’m still so frustrated that the other entry just vanished!

I woke in the night as I could hear a dog getting sick in the family room. Choke, choke, choke, Barf! I decided to stay in bed and deal with it in the morning.
It was Anneliese who’d gotten sick. She is not doing well. Her 14th birthday is December 10th and I sure hope she will make that and maybe have more time with her as well. I will baby her.
Just when I was happy to have gotten all the laundry done, I had to wash up Lili’s bed as that was where Anneliese had gotten sick. Ugh!
Our clocks went back last night. Most of our clocks self adjust, but the microwave, stove, coffee maker, and family room clock all needed to be reset. Done!
I really have been enjoying my Alexa Echo 5. It’s the perfect bedside clock/radio/information box. I listen to music, ask Alexa questions, and get the time and temperature. Very handy!
Our leaves are falling fast and soon they will be all on the ground. Between the clocks falling back, the fact that it gets dark so early, and that it is so cold, I’m feeling a wee bit on the grim side.
Still, I wish you all a very Happy Monday and also have a great week ahead!

Maribeth

Life In The Time Of Covid

Life in the time of Covid. It’s odd you know. As our numbers start to climb, I’ve gone back into only going out when I absolutely have to. Today was one of those days. So I planned it out. Grocery, Post Office, home.

Many people are opting to stay home too. We had a dusting of snow in the morning, so many people just figured, what the heck and stayed in. I was able to get a few things I needed at the grocery store and then I was off to the Post Office.

I had a lot of mail. A lot! But what concerned me most was a letter from my insurance company. Basically, they said that if this was “Cosmetic” they will not cover it. Lucky for me they found one large tumor and two small ones! That should make them happy.

I truly detest my Insurance Company. They have never been there to help me. In fact, I have had the stress of practically begging for them to cover my care, despite the fact that I am covered. Very soon I will be looking for a new primary provider and I can tell my current provider to take a flying leap!

I must insert here that I love my current secondary insurer. They are so good and I never have a worry.

In the afternoon, I did a few little things, but not too much. For whatever reason, I was feeling tired.

I called my sister and my friend, Gail and we had great visits. That’s one thing I love about my cell phone! I can call and talk and talk and it costs nothing.

Dinner was once again leftovers, thus making my day end easily. Now we are both sitting here watching “Air Disasters” and sort of killing time until I go to bed.

The Friday Five October 30th

This week is finally over. I’m glad. It was a somewhat tense week, but it is done and I made it through. So here’s what’s happening.

We all know Monday was my surgery. It went so well! I am so fortunate to have found Dr. S. and that he got me in so quickly. Looking back on my surgery, I have to say that I am pleased the doctor did such a great job and that he was really interested in my tumors!
I’ve managed to keep myself fairly quiet all week, which has helped with the healing process. Luckily, I never did get a black eye, just a headache between my eyes, like I’d been kicked by a horse. All manageable with Tylenol and Motrin.
I used to be scared of so many things. I was not brave at all. But here I am nearly 62, and I am one very brave woman! I feel very strong!!!
My dogs have been a great source of comfort to me. They are on my lap. or snuggled next to me, or on my feet (Lili loves to sleep on my feet or near them when she can). How lucky I am!
My stitches come out on Tuesday and I am excited about that too! I was looking at my face this morning and I realized that with my tumors gone, and the eyebrow fixed my face is once again balanced!

So that’s it for this week. We are now Past-Peak with our Autumn Leaf colors and now rain and cold seem to have set in. It’s my hope that wherever you are, you can find warmth, happiness, and good health!