Category: My Life

Since I had worked pretty hard on Saturday, I decided I wanted to relax a bit on Sunday. Somehow, it did not turn out that way.

I seemed to be consumed with shelf clearing and organizing, but sometimes I feel like I am losing the battle.

Jack had seen a show about a woman who comes in and whips your home into shape. Her website is called Horderly.com and he said I should look it over.

I did, and I would love to be able to purge the entire house, but I live with Mr. Hoarder! So this would be quite difficult.

However, 2018 saw me finally finish clearing my office out and fixing it all up, so why not start with another room. I think the formal living room that we never use may be the next place on my list.

I think Spring is here, finally. We have had two pretty nice days and I am hopeful that this is it, but you never know.

One year we had a massive blizzard on May 9-10 we got 13 inches of snow! So, yeah, one never rules out snow until well after that! At least I don’t.

Jack got up early on Sunday so he could watch the Masters Golf. It was a wonderful round of golf to watch and we both were pleased to see Tiger Woods win after so much adversity in his life. Both emotionally and physically.

So, my friends, that’s a wrap of my weekend!

On Tuesday life was going pretty well. I got up, made coffee, drank several cups and proceeded to start a project of catching up on my filing.

All was going well until about 11:45 AM when I started to feel ill. At first, it was nothing much, but within an hour I was in terrible pain. I thought it was a UTI and all I needed was antibiotics. In fact, I have some leftovers and I almost self-medicated, but I held off.

Good thing. As the day wore on I felt worse and worse. E-gads! I wondered if I had a kidney stone. Honestly, I felt like I was giving birth to a Rhinoceros!

We got a test to see if I had a UTI, and yes I did. So, I decided I would go to the Walk-in Clinic on Wednesday morning before WW. And it’s a good thing I did.

I was up bright and early on Wednesday, went to the walk-in and was their first patient of the day.

It turned out I have a UTI that had backed up to the kidneys. Talk about pain.

So, they started me with a very strong antibiotic and sent me home with orders to drink, rest and drink some more! And not adult beverages either.

I’m resting, drinking, and taking my medication and I hope I will get well quickly. I really hate being sick!

Our weekend was a busy one. I finally got the laundry caught up with, and on Sunday, of course, it was time to cook the annual Corned Beef and Cabbage, St. Patrick’s Day Dinner!

My attempts at following in my Mom’s footsteps had never really succeeded. In fact, I got out her cooking notes and could find nothing relating to Corned Beef. Drat!

So after reading The Pioneer Woman’s comments on fixing a tender Brisket, I found a recipe by Tyler Florence, and then I sort of took from both and threw caution to the wind and cooked that sucker!

I used a slow oven, my cast iron Dutch Oven, and time. Six long hours of cooking the Corned Beef.

All I can say if OMG!

Since I was cooking a lot of Corned Beef, I decided to cook the veggies separately. Pearl Onions, Cabbage, Carrot Chunks, and Boiled Potatoes!

Not my meal, (photo from the Internet) but this is what mine looked like. I just forgot to take a picture!

We’d invited friends for the meal, and everyone ate so well. I was so happy that the meal turned out to be one I took pride in. I hate it when I have cooking failures.

Lili enjoyed being the center of attention for her birthday, and she has now settled in to being a full-fledged five years old.

And that my friends, is the weekend, wrap!

After getting about 2-3 inches of snow yesterday, the dratted rain arrived in the late afternoon. Jack had already been out with the snowblower, but when the rain hit the drive it turned to ice. This morning, when I let the pups out, our back patio was all crunchy ice.

I’d hoped that we would have warmer temperatures today to help melt some of this, but a cold front is moving in as I write and there will be no melting. Ugh!

While Jack was working on the drive yesterday I was trying to figure out a problem on his laptop. A friend told me once if you have a problem, type in the exact problem in your search engine and read how to solve it.

So, I did this, and after three attempts, the problem was solved. I felt good about this, and I thank Brad for his advice many years ago.

Arnie is still trying to figure out this new seat. Yesterday he kept trying to balance on the arm and it was pretty funny to watch him.

Cute as a button this one!

Anneliese also came up and tried the new seat. As soon as I put up my feet electronically, she hopped down. Neither Arnie or Anneliese know what to think about the mechanism! Makes me giggle!

I tried a new recipe last night for shrimp. I had a bag of frozen uncooked shrimp in the deep freeze and I pulled it out and after cleaning them, I cooked them with butter, garlic and at the last minute fresh lemon squeezed over it all! Yum! I served it with Onion, Mushroom, and Pepper Risotto.  Not bad at all.

Have a wonderful Monday!

Maribeth

Sunday morning I fixed an amazing breakfast. Klosterbrot (German Bread), Leberkäse (A fine German Meatloaf is often eaten at breakfast or lunch), Eggs, Onions sauteed until they were soft, and a wonderful Florida grapefruit that was a gift from my late friend, Candy.

The meal was wonderful, and we enjoyed the grapefruit knowing that even though Candy was very sick at Christmas, she had somehow managed to order this box of fruit for us. Three more and we are done. I know I will cry when we eat the last one.

After breakfast, I showered and Jack said we should go and do our grocery shopping. So I dressed and off we went.

We hadn’t done a big shopping since I came home, so it was a three-store marathon, and we got some great deals on meats and vegetables!

Then we stopped at our favorite Chinese Buffet and filled up before heading home. I always know how good or bad I am looking by how the waitress charges me. A Good Day means she doesn’t think I am a senior and I get charged the usual fee. A Bad Day means I look every bit of my 60 years and then some and she charges me at the senior rate. Today was a Good Day!

We’re due for more snow tonight and into tomorrow. 3+ inches of the wet white stuff! Ugh!

Anneliese is doing well. We both think the divot (ulcer) in her eye is better. She goes back to the Specialist at the end of the month. Until then, meds 4 times a day and I am watching her like a hawk!

Happy Monday Everyone!

 

I seem to be settling into life back here in New Hampshire. It’s warmed up a bit and was actually as warm as it was during the Florida cold snap that I lived through when I was down. Funny isn’t it? 59 degrees in Florida is COLD! Yet, here in New Hampshire, I wore a Spring jacket and actually saw several people out in shorts. Really! Shorts!

The mountains of snow in my yard have started to melt some, and Jack worked hard to break up the three inches of ice in our driveway so that we could get some serious melting done there. We also had an incredible run off of water under the ice in the driveway. Yes, New England weather is just crazy.

Anneliese’s eye is so much better today! I’ve been holding my breath, terrified she would need surgery, but the four drops and salves are working and she is no longer in pain at all. Call me a happy girl! Anneliese too.

I made a totally awesome lunch today of tomato soup with basil and a love Greek Salad, with chicken in it. I’d made my own Greek Salad Dressing the other day and it came out really well. I want to try a few other salad things this coming week.

It’s nice to be home, nice to be getting into a routine once again.

I drove the twins out to the Vet on Monday, as Anneliese needed her stitches out. She did fine, and both Arnie and his sister enjoyed the ride, despite below freezing temperatures.

I felt quite calm, despite the frigid weather and actually got a lot of organizing done for my departure later this week.

I’m excited because today is my hair stylist appointment. I sure hope she is a magician and can whip my somewhat out of shape hair back into shape!

I also decided to download a new book for reading on my trip. I will spend time on airplanes, in airports, and at various other times, so I decided a new book was just the thing.

I downloaded the biography of “Queen Victoria”. I’ve watched mini-series and movies, so decided to read a historical biography to learn more. The book looks good from what I perused on my kindle.

My Friday began like any other Friday. I got up, made breakfast for Jack and I and started a load of laundry.

Jack got ready and headed off to a physical therapy appointment at the VA, and a few minutes later I got a phone call and sat chatting.

About a half an hour after Jack left I heard the door in the basement slam shut. That’s odd, I thought. Maybe Jack had car trouble.

I went to the window in my room and did not see a car, a UPS Truck or anything!

It was then I heard footsteps coming up the stairs from the basement.

“Hello! Anyone home? Hello!” said a strange man’s voice.

The hair on the back of my neck stood up. Lili began to growl and bark! I raced to the cellar door and turned the lock and wedged my foot on the bottom.

“Who is there? Who are you! Tell me your name!”

There was no response.

“I’m calling the police!” I shouted again and again, as I dialed 911!

I didn’t hear the door slam shut. I didn’t hear him leave. I was frozen at the door waiting until the police arrived. It was just seconds until they drove into my driveway.

The police searched the basement and the perimeter of the house. I’d seen a white SUV below us and so they put out an APB for any car matching that.

I filed the report, got the policeman to give me a few tips on how to protect my home (I need a few deadbolts and a long piece of wood to block the sliding glass door.), but he told me again that Lili was amazing and the two of us had done a great job under the circumstances.

Lili was amazing. She growled and barked and sounded so fierce. I guess it’s what makes German Shepherds such wonderful police dogs!

My Hero, Lili!

Yes, I did okay, but I have to tell you I didn’t start breathing again for a while. After the police left, and I locked every door I could, I sat down and slowly drank my coffee and tried to relax.

I don’t understand why people break into other people’s homes. Why people think it is okay to steal. Today, I am just glad that Lili protected me, and that I wasn’t harmed.