Category: Uncategorized

I got up at 5:30 this morning, and here is my view on life:

The most important things in life are the people you love. They are not perfect, they are human, with all the good and the bad rolled into that little package that you love. Their happiness and health and well being should be at the top of your list.

Never vacuum and dust in the middle of a remodeling project. You will only have to do it again.

Apple should be ashamed of themselves for only allowing downloads in “their format”. Some of us do not own IPOD’s, (I know, I am still living in in the ice age) and find having to download the files onto a disc just so you can covert them to a playable format for your CD player too much. I have recently gone to Yahoo Music for my down loads. Same price, larger music selection and correct format for me.

The love of your dogs makes up for almost any bad day you will have. So, remember your furry friends each day and spend a little time loving them.

Laundry never ends.

Weather happens

The only things you can truly count on are: God’s love, the sun rising and setting, and yourself. So remember to be good to yourself, you are worth it! ;~)

I’ve come into the 21st century! I finally left Netscape behind and have gone over to Firefox and Thunderbird!
Now before anyone thinks that this is really a stretch for me, let me explain.
Firefox and Thunderbird were developed by the same people who originally made Netscape. When Netscape was purchased by AOL/Time Warner, they left and started their own company. Thus Firefox/Thunderbird was born.
I have found the transition to be mostly painless, although I had a few places where I had trouble setting things up, but that was simply because I am only a wanna be computer geek! It is all installed now, and set up and working like a charm.
What do I like best? The tab browsing is good, but the best? Probably is in Thunderbird. I write to a friend in Germany all the time and occasionally I use German words. Thus a normal spell check isn’t always kind. I imported a German dictionary, that I can use to run a spell check on the letter and it will give me correct German spellings, Umlauts and all.
Much of the actual program is the same as the older versions of Netscape. So, I haven’t had any trouble adapting to it. I like it so much, I plan to upgrade Hubby’s computer as well.
What did we do before computers?

It’s time to go out and select new glasses. Now this always proves to be a real challenge for me. First, I really hate glasses. I was a contact lens wearer for 25 years. After my retina detached, it was bye-bye to contacts and hello to glasses, permanently.
My current frame is what I call a modified Harry Potter frame.

Large, round, but instead of being black they are gold frames. However, I think this time I’ll go for something a little smaller. Gold in color, but small.
If I must wear glasses, then they have to be gold as I look simply dreadful in any colored frames. Oh vanity, they name is Maribeth!
I’ve decided not to get glasses that automatically tint to sunglasses. They are such a waste. They do not work in the car! That was something that no one bothered to tell me. I think what I’ll do is get regular lenses in the new frames and then get my current glasses dipped and made into dark sunglasses.
It just stinks when you can’t walk across the floor without wearing glasses.

**Update**
Since my sister ratted me out about the first panty picture, I took a new one and added that to this post.
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It just never got warm on Monday. I wore my long johns under my jeans and chamois shirt and I was still cold. The wind blew hard and I am guessing that the wind-chill had to be down in the negative numbers all day long.
I got my Recycling Center trip done early, and I am pleased to announce that ‘mean’ guy wasn’t there. I was able to bring in 8 boxes of stuff without so much as a whimper from the nice guy attendant!
I picked up the mail and received really special cards from many people expressing their sympathy at Shubi’s passing. In her own way, that little dog touched so many lives. None more than mine, but it was so nice to know that others shared my sorrow at her death.
We are now 7 days into Greta’s heat. She is just the cutest, funniest pup in her little pants! Probably the funniest thing is how much she actually likes wearing them.

Last summer

Today

I’m not sure what it is, maybe she thinks she looks hot! She certainly struts herself around the house like a prima donna!
My books arrived on the care and breeding of your pure bred dog. I had to laugh. One chapter is titled, “Sex And The Single Dog”! Now that just cracked me up!

Okay, who called in the request for more winter?
Over the weekend we had a foot of snow, and then this morning the temperature was -4 degrees (F) with 25 mile an hour winds!
I went out to get the morning paper and slipped on the ice and pulled the muscle in my calf! Did that hurt! I searched and searched for the morning paper before I found it under the car. Apparently it had blown there in the high winds.
So, I’m inside now, thinking that this is a day I should just stay in my pajamas and do nothing. Ha! I actually have a lot to do, including a trip to the Recycling Center (I sure hope the guy who yelled at me isn’t there), and a mail run. It’s my goal to get the garage cleaned out over the next few weeks.
Back to this awful weather. Now, I am hereby proclaiming that winter should end and that spring should arrive with warm temperatures and gentle breezes!
Doesn’t that sound nice?

We had visitors today during the height of the snowstorm. Our friend Linda and her husband Gary brought over their new White German Shepherd puppy, Lily! She is all of 11 weeks old. Still that small fluffy puppy that I remember Fritz being, not so very long ago.

Mostly Lily slept in Linda’s arms while we talked. She is still a sleepy little thing, and of course still not house broken either. I joked with Linda that if what she wanted was a house broken pup with more energy, I’d trade Fritz! (Actually I never would, but it sounds good. LOL!)
Greta wasn’t quite sure what to make of Lily, but she was okay. Fritz was a bit intimidated by her. What was really funny is when Lily looked up into Fritz’s white face and started to kiss him. I wonder if she thought, “Are you my Daddy?”

Today we got the most beautiful card from our Veterinary. Every one in the office signed this card along with a short message of sympathy.

Shubi playing around in her youth
Shubi was so greatly loved by all who knew her. Even at the Vets. When I read the card, the tears flowed, and I felt so moved. How kind it was for them to do this and how fortunate I am to have such a caring group of people taking care of my babies.

Shortly after noon the winds began to blow and the rain poured down. The violence of the storm was incredible. It wasn’t long before we heard a loud bang and the lights went out.
We waited a moment and then started calling the electric company. After hitting the redial button a gazillion times, I finally got through and gave the information.
It’s now 4:45 and guess what? No power. The woman I spoke with apparently never typed in the location I gave her, because Hubby tracked down an electric truck and they knew nothing about our outage. Hubby also located the pole with the blown breaker. So we got the pole number and called back. Hopefully they’ll get it this time.
Meanwhile, we are using our generator. Something we don’t often use because our lights never go out! Hubby had to really talk fast to convince me to get one a couple of years ago. Today I think he is a genious! With the generator we can, watch TV, cook meals, heat water for tea and yes, use the computer!

(later)
It’s 12:30 AM. We finally got our power back.
Shubi was very ill today. She is failing fast. I’ll be calling the Vet first thing in the morning. Our hearts are breaking. Please say a little prayer.

How I Became Owned By A Wire-Haired Dachshund.

Many years ago, Hubby took me to Starnberg, Germany. This is just south of Munich, in Bavaria. He wanted to introduce me to his friends, Lucie and Otto. I was a new bride and nervous about meeting his longtime friends. As I sat in their living room in bounded a small vivacious pup named Shubi. Shubi was a Rauhhaardackel (or wire-haired dachshund in English). Shubi understood no English and I spoke no German, but it didn’t matter, it was love at first sight!

Shubi climbed into my lap and we cuddled and kissed and for the next week wherever I went, I was followed by this love struck little man. When we parted I cried and all I would say to Hubby is, “I want a little Shubi dog!”
We made four more trips to Munich over the next four years and each time it was always the same. Shubi would instantly become my little love and follow me everywhere.
Sadly, we received a letter in Christmas 1995 telling us that Otto had become sick with cancer and that Shubi had escaped from their yard and been hit by a car. We were devastated.
In February 1996 we went to see Lucie and Otto again. The house was oddly still with no little man running about. It just wasn’t the same home it had been when Shubi was alive. I said to Lucie one day at lunch, that we should find puppies and have them together.
Otto overheard us and while Lucie and I went out shopping, he found an ad for Rauhhaardackel Puppies that were in Landshut, which was about 35 km east of Munich.
The next day we drove out and as we entered the kitchen of The Lanzingers, there in a small basket on the floor were three small puppies.
I went over and peered into a little face. The pup stood and tried to jump up to me. I picked her up and that was it. She looked me over, decided that I would do and after kissing my face clean, settled into my arms and snuggled. Lucie selected a little boy.
As we traveled back to Starnberg, I was trying to think of a good name for my puppy. Hubby had been oddly silent finally said, “All I have heard for eight years is: ‘I want a Shubi dog! ‘ The dogs name is Shubi!”
And thus Shubi was named and she then adopted us and we became her responsibility in life. Her brother was named Toni.
I worried that bringing a puppy back with us would be difficult, but it wasn’t at all. She was three months old, had had all her shots and once we purchased a doggie passport and bought her a ticket we were all set. Shubi road in Business Class from Munich to New York. She was wonderful on the plane, and once we cleared customs Hubby rushed her outside and she did what all dogs do after a long trip.
We took Shubi back several times to Germany to visit her brother. The two would always act like they had not been separated for very long, and would play and play. Shubi would also remember the pathway to our room at our friends home.

Looking back now, these last ten years have been some of the happiest of my life.

I’ve been watching the Olympics, and I have decided I love the snow-board kids. Well, the boys at least. They are, like, way cool, man!
These kids can take their snow-boards and fly up and down the sides of the half-pipe as though they are weightless. They flex, they turn, they twist and then land, with the greatest of ease. I wonder why the snow-boarders at Waterville and Loon Mountains don’t handle themselves the same way. The only thing I have seen those kids fly over was my back after they knocked me down…but I digress.
I watched “The Flying Red Tomato“, Shawn White on Saturday. He was poetry in motion. He’s made me actually enjoy watching the snow-boarding! And when he was done with his run and had a microphone shoved in his face he was humble and nice and emotional and he liked his parents. That was great to see.

I’ve also enjoyed the USA Women’s Hockey Team. These women are really something. Their hustle, their stick handling, their spirit, puts a lot of the NHL teams I’ve seen lately to shame. I’m pretty proud when I watch these women representing our country. Their victory over Finland was breathtaking! I hope they do for women’s hockey what The USA Women’s Soccer Team did for women’s soccer!

Bode Miller is proving to be a real disappointment. It seems that when it really has mattered how he skied, he has skied poorly. Too bad. He has the talent, and the opportunity that you and I will never have, and he is blowing it.

I’m looking forward to more skiing, more skating, (both figure and hockey) and, yes, even more snow-boarding. (If only they’d stay in their half-pipes!)