Category: Life

Okay, so how come no one told me that after you have been working out for a while, your bones begin the ache?

I was lying in bed this morning before I opened my eyes, moved or indicated to Hubby and Greta and Fritz that I was, actually awake, when I thought to myself, “Wow! My bones ache”. From the top of my head to the tips of my toes. Ache, ache, ache!

I slowly got out of bed and pulled on my robe, which is wonderfully, warm and cuddly, and padded to the kitchen to make the coffee, but once I got into the kitchen the pups saw me and got all excited and began running and jumping around. So, before I made the coffee, I played with the pups.

The weather was really terrible here today with snow, sleet, and ice, but like the mail, I got into my Jeep, put it into 4 wheel drive and went to the health club where I continued to torture my bones. I am actually using the elliptical machine now and I think I will grow to like it in time. For now, it is all torture. However, I am determined to keep on doing this until I am in shape, and then keep it up for the rest of my life.

I came home and had to do some work in the puppy room. It’s such a wonderful feeling to go to the door and call to the puppies and have them all come running making these adorable puppy noises that tell me how happy they are to see me.

My cousin Janet took this picture, and I absolutely love it!

I get my puppy kisses and see those little tails wagging and I know that life is good.

Despite my aching bones!

My Year In Review

1. Hubby skied until the 12th of January, then the Orthopedic Surgeon stopped him until after both of his knees were replaced.
2. February 19th my beloved Shubi passed away. I still miss that sweet dog!
3. In March, Hubby had the first of his knee surgeries. This one included a great deal of bone grafting.
4. April was a quieter month. Mostly we spent it getting the trees ready for the spring, and Hubby ready for his next surgery.
5. At the end of May Hubby had his right knee replaced. The surgery went well and he seemed to bounce back quickly.
6. The care and upkeep of my garden and the fruit trees not only kept me busy, but truly delighted me.
7. Summer, oh summer, how I loved thee! Sunshine, growing fruit and vegetables and actually enjoying the fruits of my labor!
8. My eye surgery came along in August. I was so nervous about it’s outcome, but needless to say, I am really thankful that the operation was a success and my vision was restored.
9. Greta was presented to the German judge, and received the highest score. I was so happy!
10. Greta finally got lucky and got together with her boyfriend, Bernie. Yes, the pitter patter of little feet will soon be heard in our home!
11. It seems that November was a birthday celebration month. Although my birthday was on the 17th, I had a surprise party on the 4th, birthday presents that came in all month long and another birthday party with my daughter, Hubby and cousin on my birthday! Yay, birthdays!!!
12. I’ve had the fun of watching my slender Greta getting bigger and bigger as the puppies grow inside.
13. Another 7 to 10 days and the pups will be here!

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TIME

It slips by us so fast, from the beauty of a bright sunrise to the flaming rays of the loveliest sunset. Time…

Winter suddenly arrived last night when our temperatures dipped into the low 20’s. I was wearing my new fleece dachshund pajamas that my sister gave me, but when Greta got me up at 4 AM to go outside and commune, in the dark, with nature, I really froze my butt off! Once inside, I raced back to bed and dove under the warm heavy blankets!

Today we took the grocery list in hand and headed to the market to purchase all we will need for Thanksgiving. The stores were actually not too bad. We were able to get in, shop and check out quickly. Then we packed up the car with our groceries and a 17 ½ pound turkey into the car and headed home.

Emily came over and we made pizza and planned our cooking. Tomorrow we will make the stuffing and the pies and peel the vegetables and set the table. Thursday we will cook the turkey, and making the appetizers.

This morning when I was due to leave and pick up Hubby to go and shop, Fritz decided to take off. He was gone for some time and I finally got into the car and went looking for him. Unfortunately I found him very close to a main road. It scared the heck out of me and I yelled at him until my vocal chords were strained! It really added some excitement to my day!

The little mother to be, Greta is doing well and getting bigger every day. Her appetite has increased and I am afraid I will have to start feeding her a third small meal, at noon.

Oh yes. I’ve definitely felt the puppies move!

Recipes have been pulled out and lists have been made for tomorrow’s grand foray to the grocery store. There, I will hunt down and capture the great American 20 pound turkey! On Wednesday I have a full day of baking planned. I cannot even begin to say how excited I am.

You see, although many people love Christmas best, or Easter best or even Halloween best, for me it’s Thanksgiving! All of my life I have lived for Thanksgiving.

I love the food, the smells, the laughter and most of all the sharing.

Yes, the sharing of the food, smells and the laughter!

So tomorrow starts the countdown to our Thanksgiving feast. My cousin Janet, her brother and my Uncle arrive Thanksgiving morning. So many of my best and happiest Thanksgivings have been spent with them, so I am really happy they are coming.

We’ll also be having Emily’s family, and our friends L&B. Everyone is bringing something to contribute and I think this makes it even better!

So what are everyone’s plans for Turkey Day?

I’ve got a new theory. I was looking at my fingernails today and I noticed that they have grown lovely and long. I try pretty hard to grow them out, but try as I might, they are always breaking. However, right now, the second week into November, my fingernails have never looked better.

Thinking back, it was a year ago that I made the same observation. I remember taking pictures then too, because I just knew that in no time the nails would be snapping like dried twigs.

So why is it, that each November I find my nails looking so good?

Well, I finally figured it out. It’s Halloween! Every year around the middle of October I buy Halloween candy. Of course, you all know my weakness for chocolate, so I tend to dip into the candy basket a little too much. Then I have to buy more candy for the kids, who never do come to my door!

So here is the answer to my question. The reason my nails grow long and lovely in November is….. because of all the chocolate I eat in October!

I know, you are all laughing, right? This morning as Hubby and I drove to the supermarket I presented my theory to him.

“Honestly, Hon, I think this chocolate thing is the reason my nails are so strong and haven’t been snapping off”.

I expected a *snort*, perhaps a guffaw, but he looked down at his nails for a moment and exclaimed that he hadn’t had a broken nail either, and he had been dipping into the chocolate too!

So there you have it Fellow Bloggers. Do not go and ingest endless amounts of tasteless gelatin or waste your money on all those bottles of nail strengthener when you can have beautiful nails the natural way.

Eat Chocolate!!!

I was up early on Saturday with Greta. Morning sickness is so hard to deal with when you are a two year old dachshund! Once I settled her down with a warm blanket, I turned on our favorite weekend show, the Eukanuba Dog Show.

I watch these dog shows differently now. I used to observe the dogs only for cuteness and personality, but since I showed Greta at the German Dachshund Club show I have starting watching the AKC sanctioned events with a critical eye.

The German Judge took his time and checked all areas of the dogs for weight, height, and chest size. He counted the teeth, and he watched the movement of the dogs under a variety of circumstances. His eye was keen and critical, but I felt when he was finished with a dog, his judgments were fair. I learned a great deal that day, even if my heart was in my throat the whole time!

So there I was this morning, with Greta and her blankie, watching. We were shocked to see the AKC Judge giving the dogs a quick once over. Greta and I scoffed at the treatment! The judge did not seem overly impressed with dogs that I felt had great merit, and of course Animal Planet only shows you the dogs that they like. They cover the others during a commercial.

Greta and I were anticipating seeing the wirehaired dachshund that was entered, and although she was “cute”, I fear a German Judge would have given her only marginal marks.

Greta laughed at me (I swear!), and reminded me that all doggies are beautiful in their owners eyes, and she is right. However, don’t you think that if a dog is in a sanctioned dog show it should be judged more closely? Ah, perhaps not.

I switched the channel and found a rerun of the Miss Universe Pagent. I looked at all those fabulously gorgeous, young, nubile women, and I knew I was glad that Hubby wasn’t judging me by their standards. I’m his sweetie and, yes, he still loves me despite the fact that I don’t meet the breed standard anymore!

My new cell phone battery arrived in the mail on Saturday. I put it in the phone, charged it up and yahoo, my phone now works the way it once did. Meaning that I can talk on my cell phone for more than 15 minutes without it going dead.

Even better than the way this new battery works, is the fact that I got it for $9.99, including shipping and it arrived in less than 10 days! My cell phone company (who I do love), wanted $39.99 for this little battery!

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I managed to clean out our front hall closet in one day. This closet contained:
1. Our old record collection. Three large heavy boxes of LP’s!
2. Two fish bait buckets.
3. A tackle box.
4. Three wooden ice fishing line sets.
5. Various fishing poles.
6. A box of Reel to Reel tapes.
7. My collection of cassette tapes.
8. An amplifier from the 1960’s.
9. Half a dozen small throw pillows.

I’m not sure how all that stuff got into that closet. It just sort of happened over time. I decided that I was taking back my closet and so I removed this stuff, and put it down into the basement. I will deal with the basement in another life, but at least my front hall closet is clean and I can actually put coats, and boots into it.

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I tried a new recipe for Bratkartoffeln. Bratkartoffeln is sautéed potatoes with onions and bacon. It came out really well and we enjoyed it with the pork chops I cooked for dinner tonight. The recipe is below for the potato dish.

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Today I pruned my tomato plants back. They are still in the green house and believe it or not, still have tomatoes on them!

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I also helped Hubby to rake leaves, and played a little ball with Greta and Fritz.

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Greta has been eating and sleeping more each day. I’m hoping this is a sign that she is, in fact, pregnant.

When I was in the kitchen cooking I heard a noise and looked down and there she was with her dog dish in her mouth waiting for me to notice her and fill the dish!

It was shopping day for Hubby and me. This means we went down to the big city and actually went to some chain stores to buy some much needed supplies. A new wireless router, (works great and has increased my reception strength) a new mouse for Hubby’s computer, (his old one died yesterday) and a new pair of jeans for me, (my favorite’s, from LL Bean!).

We also did a big grocery shopping, which is always fun until you get home and have to put it all away.

Greta is nearly done with her heat. Thank goodness. I gave her a bath last night and put her in some fresh panties before bed. I think just a few more days and it will be over.

I really do wish it were possible to do an “Early Pregnancy Test” on Greta. The suspense is killing me! However, just think about this: me running around the back yard trying to get Greta to pee on a little stick!

Meanwhile, here is a picture of Greta that I took of her at her nap time.

It was flu shot day today for Hubby and me. Each year we get down to a flu shot clinic early and get “stuck” to avoid the aches and pains and general awful feeling you get from the flu. I went early (my number was #1, so this gives you a hint how early I was) and while I waited for the clinic to begin at the local Pharmacy, I walked around the store shopping.

Okay, I know, anyone who buys anything in a Pharmacy besides drugs obviously doesn’t get out much, right? Well, they had these great doggy steps that I had seen on TV. They were not expensive, and best of all, had no shipping and handling charge, so I tossed those in the cart. I also found a few Christmas presents and a couple of cards. Yes, I’m afraid I am a a Pharmacy Shopping Geek!

The Nurses showed up and I was injected and the nurse stuck a Band-Aid on me, to keep my “pretty pink shirt” free from blood. Well, guess what? She totally missed the place on my arm where she stuck me and I bled all over my “pretty pink shirt”! Grrrrrr!

As I drove home I was in total awe of the beauty around me. The leaves are so beautiful this year and I just soaked in their radiance. I’ve decided that I like Autumn the very best!

When I got home, I quickly got out the doggy steps and followed the directions and put them together. I just knew Greta would love them and that she would instantly use them, thus not stressing her back in any way, and of course giving her soon to be expanding belly plenty of room when she got up on a chair or the bed.

Greta sniffed the steps. She looked at them, then at me, like I had totally lost my mind. I got treats and tried to bribe her to climb up the pretty little steps. She hates them. I’m not giving up though, I will work with her each day until she comes over to me and using the stairs, climbs up in my lap and says, “Thank you for buying me steps, Mommy!”.

Until then I am stuck with the old saying, “The best laid plans…”.