A Dog’s World

I have been working to get Lili to accept that the puppy is here to stay. Lili didn’t seem to mind the puppy, but she was like a new fiancee going to meet her future inlaws. Lili has been on her best behavior. Afraid to do anything wrong.

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I knew the day would have to come when Lili got sick enough of Heidi to let her know, that she wasn’t going to accept ankle-biting, ear-biting, and other obnoxious treatment from this young whipper-snapper.

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That day was yesterday. The pups were up early and then Heidi was like a whirling-dervish. Go, go, go!

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She ended up biting at Lili’s ankles and this time, dear, sweet, Lili turned around, and growled and snapped at her. I was monitoring, so I could see that this was doggy-puppy instruction, because immediately Heidi backed off and stared at Lili. She tried again. Again Lili growled and snapped her mouth in the air. This went on for a moment or two and I called Heidi and told her to stop. She left poor Lili in peace and then played with her bones and toys.

Later in the day, Heidi was playing tug of war with me, and Lili came over to see what we were doing. I got Lili to take the rope and for several moments they played with the rope together before Lili walked away. But this is a start!

Aside from this, Heidi is still in puppy learning mode and doing well. It’s now two weeks since her last accident, which is encouraging. She never used the pee pads I bought. In fact, I don’t even put them down. So I have 48 pee pads that will go unused.

Is Heidi completely toilet trained? No. But she does know where to go and has started to go right to the door when she needs to go out. Since I decided early on to devote myself to doing this and training her to the leash, coming when called, etc while she was still young, I have been very busy. Even during the Flu. Even during snowstorms. But the progress is amazing.

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So the girl is not just beautiful, she is also smart! How did I get so lucky?

My Favorite Christmas Music!

In this day and age, my modern favorite Christmas Carol is Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmas Time”. It just fills me with joy and I always stop and sing along.

After that, I go for some beautiful classic tunes, such as “Carol of the Bells”. This one makes me think of my dear friend Candy, who I lost nearly three years ago now. But this song fills me with peace and joy.

Silent Night is a classic and one I learned to sing very early on. It is still one of my favorites.

And probably the one I like the very most is this, “The Holly and the Ivy”. Candy and I once sang this with our choir.

What Carols make you feel all Christmassy this time of the year?

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Plans

I’ve been busy the last few days. Busy doing what you might ask? well, it is now 52 days until I depart Boston to fly to meet and bring home my new Dackel-Baby, Heidi!

When all of the Covid lockdowns began I switched all my bills to my Delta Skymiles Card. I also bought my groceries with the same card. I’ve been racking up the miles and so I wanted to see what I could do with my flight plans.

Well, I will be flying First Class with my new Puppy Baby when I bring her home. Using my Skymiles, my round trip will cost me $11.20. The cash amount is for taxes, which cannot be paid with Skymiles!

Once I had my flights, I set about getting a motel room in Boston, with Park, Stay and Fly, and then set about to rent a car in Nashville, to drive to the breeders home and pick up Heidi. I also needed a hotel in Nashville for the night.

I will admit the excitement is wonderful, but a certain amount of nervousness goes along with that. This is my first ever, completely solo trip. At nearly 63 years old (next week), I have always traveled with someone, be they parents, first husband, second husband, kids, cousins, sister, or friends. But this is me. Just me. And it is both scary and exhilarating!

So yes, the reservations are made and in 52 days the adventure begins!

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It’s Here!

In recent years, I’ve been having trouble vacuuming and washing floors. When I actually break down and do this, my neck gets really sore and I just hang it up for the day.

So, I was watching an infomercial over the holiday weekend when I saw a Bissell machine just for wood floors and tiles. Best of all, if a small dust-bunny of Lili’s hair gets caught up in the machine, this thing is ready and can handle anything.

So, I went to Amazon to check their prices on this machine and it was close to $250.00, and that was just for the machine!

So, I went to Bissell and their machine came with one extra roller bar and one mini container of cleaning fluid.

I really didn’t want to pay $250.00, but I figured that Bissell had the better price. So, I began the process of ordering it online straight from the manufacturer.

My problem was, the site kept kicking me out. It would not allow me to complete the process.

I hemmed and hawed for a few hours and I was “thisclose” to just ordering the machine from Amazon when I got an email from BJ’s Warehouse. Their come on was “Come to BJ’s and check out our prices!

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So I toddled on my Browser to check out their sales, and what should I find? If you guessed my machine, you would be right! And best of all, it came with 3 mini bottles of cleaner, 3 large bottles of cleaner, 4 beater bars and of course, my machine. It was also on sale for $189.00! Well, that’s just too good to be true!

So I signed into my account and set about ordering the machine. When I reached the check out it asked me if I wanted to use the $10.00 coupon I had earned by using my BJ’s credit card at the Warehouse and their gas stations.

Why, yes, yes I did!

So the grand total was $179.00!

With free shipping!

I was so excited when I hit the order button on Sunday night! And yesterday, at 5:30 PM, UPS arrived with my new machine!

I set about putting it together and storing it for now in the closet. I need to add, the machine was easy to put together and is very lightweight. About 10 pounds.

Perhaps later today I will pull up the rugs in the bathroom and wash the tile floors in there. This will give me an idea of how this works.

If it works the way I hope it will, washing my floors will not be as painful as it has been.

I am so happy!

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A Really Good Day

Well, Tuesday was one of those days that from start to finish was just one really, really, good day!

I was up early and headed out to get my hair styled. I love my hairstylist, Rebecca. She takes time to listen to what I would like and then follows through. We’ve had some grand adventures so far and today, well, she just outdid herself! I needed a slight color correction because the hair in front of my head is getting whiter.  So, some creative coloring was needed. I just want to know how a sweet young thing like me can be getting all this white hair?

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The hair was great and after I saw Becca I went to the grocery store and got a few things. Arnie gets his pills twice a day and he takes them with a little liverwurst. I am now a good customer at the Deli for my boy’s treat!

Then I got the mail, and our latest stimulus check arrived. Better late than never I guess, so score another good thing on my list!

But the best thing was running into my friend Brad at the Post Office. He taught me everything I know about computers, and I have not seen him since Covid hit! I’ve kept in touch via Facebook, so I knew he had gotten both his vaccines and yet, we still were masked. Anyway, I hugged this dear friend of mine and I realized how hugs are the best. I have missed them.

After making lunch, I settled down, did some laundry, and finished the potato salad. I wasn’t thrilled with my last batch, so, I tried to think about what my Mom used to do. I went slowly and methodically and in the end, the potato salad was perfect!

I got a stain out of a favorite shirt and managed to get the dogs fed on time.

A note here, Arnie started his cranberry, pumpkin seed extract, and organic licorice root. He’s been on this for two weeks and he is starting to do amazingly well!

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71hM9ljKBpL._AC_SL1200_It is wonderful to see Arnie back to his old self and running around! He also only takes the anti-inflammatory every 12 hours instead of every 6! Score one for holistic medicine!

The sun was bright and the sky was mostly cloudless. Just one of those days where it felt good to be alive!

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Lucky Sisters

When I was born many years ago, my mother became quite ill. Her thyroid quit on her and depression set in. Imagine having a brand new baby and being in the throes of depression?

My grandmother came to care for her daughter and the family, but a son-in-law, two other children, and a new baby presented her with a lot to do.

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I was a sweet baby, but let’s face it, I was a 9 pound-plus baby who liked to eat, even back then.

Thus, my five and a half-year-old sister became my mother. She changed diapers, fed me my bottle, and cooed at me and lulled me to sleep.

It took my mother a long time to recover, and by the time she was stable on thyroid medication, I had bonded with my sister.

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When I would fall and have a boo-boo I wanted Mel. If I woke in the night with a bad dream, I wanted Mel. I think, looking back, it must have been hard for my mother to see that her baby, didn’t come running to her.

But you see, I was very lucky. Melodie was the best thing that ever happened to me.

My Mom suffered from deep depression most of the remainder of her life. The dark moods often came when I would need a mother the most, and for me, Melodie was always there.

I joke with her kids that I was her first child, but in reality, I really was. She would give me baths, read to me, and calm my fears and pains. She even snuck into the hospital to see me, when at age four I had my appendix out.

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I have not seen her since Christmas. Although we talk on the phone every day. In fact, if life gets crazy and I don’t call, she worries!  And if I don’t hear from her, I also get concerned.

Sometimes if you are lucky, and your birth mother cannot be there for you, due to illness or perhaps they were young and unable to care for you, another woman will step in and fill that role.

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For me, it was my sister, Melodie. Young as she was, she stepped up to the plate. She loves with her whole heart and she loves deeply. How fortunate I have been to have her in my life.

I love you, Melodie!

Maribeth Dackel

A Really Great Day

Tuesday the 11th was a very full day indeed! And it was all good. After months of mostly bad news in the world, today, in my little corner of the world The good news kept on coming!

I got up and weighed in.

August 11thI finally have lost 50 pounds! I have shared with you my battle with my weight and to get to this milestone made my entire day! And that was at 5:45 AM!

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Feeling happier than a girl should on a hot and sticky Tuesday, I was sitting in my chair anticipating going to the grocery store and Post Office when the phone rang.

It was my Veterinarian. He wanted to tell me that Arnie’s blood tests had come back showing a rise in his titers four times that of a healthy dog. This test showed that Arnie did have Leptospirosis with no doubts about the diagnosis!

20200706_154022Arnie is better now, thank goodness, I caught it quickly and he got the care that he needed!

The Vet had spoken with the Pharmaceutical Company and they have agreed to pay all of Arnie’s bills for treatment! I faxed the bill to them and hopefully, they will send me a check quickly!

Then I set about changing sheets and doing work around the house. I knew the third part of my day would be upon me soon and I was looking forward to it.

Then this guy came to call. It was so hot here that he simply sat on my patio table for a long time. I grabbed my Olympus Camera and started snapping. Here is the very best shot of the bunch. Isn’t he handsome?

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Why Jimmeney Crickett!

(Actually a Grasshopper)

My own picture!

I decreed that I would have a Scotch after I lost the first 25 pounds. Then after I lost 50 pounds I would have another Scotch. So today was the day I got to enjoy 1 fine Glenlivet Scotch. Oh, it tasted so very good!

My scotchSo Tuesday was a very good day! I am so grateful for all of it. Some days you just feel better about life than others. Today was that day!

Maribeth Dackel

Happy Birthday, Melodie!

Today is my sister’s birthday. I wish I could be down in Connecticut with her to celebrate her big day. Alas, this is one more Covid-19 moment.

I do want to tell you all what a wonderful sister Melodie is. She is five and a half years older than me, and I was her “first baby”. She cared for me like a little mother and was always more like a mother to me, than a sister.

Mel is one of the kindest women that I know. She always has a smile and a warm greeting for those around her. She loves her family with her whole heart and rejoices in their successes and comforts them in their sorrows.

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Ron and Melodie

She has been married to her husband, Ron for 49 years. They met at the age of 13 at summer camp and wrote to each other for many years before their wedding in November of 1971.

So today, on her sixty-seventh Birthday I want to wish my beloved sister, Melodie a very Happy Birthday!

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Finding Joy

During Covid-19, many people are having trouble finding the joy in life. Right now, life is still hard.

Many people are still not working, and many are working from home which can be its own source of stress. Long hours, children running around in a state of summer boredom, and those darn meals and dishes that don’t seem to ever get done by themselves.

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I’m dealing with a husband, who has been in lockdown since mid-March. He has gotten short-tempered and sees very little joy in his life. He yells a lot. He yells at the TV and at me. Last night I had just about had it.

Early on, during the Covid-19 Lockdown, I admit to being scared, literally a wreck! I would wake in the morning with aching jaws after clenching my teeth all night long. Thankfully, I have a bite guard, or all my teeth would be cracked by now!

Anyway, I decided that I needed to find joy in each day of my life. Be it big or small.

Certainly, the success I have had on the WW Plan with losing weight has helped me, and I worked hard creating good meals for us and trying very hard to live in the land of light.

Once I began to see my grandchildren every few weeks, that also has helped.

My daughter’s family has isolated very strictly like I have. Hygiene is the most important thing for me and for them. So expanding our bubble to include each other has been such a joy!

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Tending to, and finding a return to health for Arnie and Anneliese, although stressful at the start, makes me feel so very happy.

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Things in the world are crazy and wild, but I try to stay grounded and remember the love, the joy, and the hope for a better future for us all.

I know it isn’t like this for everyone, and I wish I could help them find their own Joy, but this is something they must do for themselves.

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Have you been able to find your joy during Covid-19?

Being Thankful

On Tuesday I had to bring my car to the shop to get it inspected for the year. She’s fairly new and since we have hardly driven her since her last oil change and new tires, she passed the exam with flying colors.

I’d had an idea in the morning to go and surprise my friend Carol. I have now lost 39.2 pounds and she has not seen me during this time. I thought, if I go over to her house and call her to come out onto her porch, she can see me!

So I dressed in nice clothes and off I went. After the tests at the Dealership, I drove over to her house! Oh, I was so excited! And it was even better than I thought!

I got out and threw my hands in the air and danced around Carol’s driveway! We both laughed and smiled, and it’s one of the best things I have felt since this whole Corona Virus started back on March 13th for me.

Nov 17 004A picture of Carol and me a few years ago. I love this picture!

The most poignant part was at the end. I kept telling her how much I love her and she kept saying I love you more! Yes, seeing someone who is this special in my life just made my entire day!

It was hot and sticky, but I did not care. I got to see my friend for the first time in several months! And for that I am thankful!

Maribeth Dackel