My Life – Page 134 – The Dackel Princess

Long Ride

I got down to my sister’s home in fairly good time. I’d actually left later than I usually like to because my windshield cracked and I had to wait for the repairman to come and replace it. He showed up early and by 11:30 I was on my way.

The sky was bright, the sun was warm, and the traffic light as I made my way along the highway. I listened to music most of the time, but as I neared Mel’s home, I shut it off and just listened to the noise of the road, and the thoughts running around in my mind.

I don’t suppose that it is ever easy to bury your father. I found myself thinking of all the times throughout my life when I’d done things with him. School, church, barbecues, clambakes, weddings, and funerals. I just kind of let my mind go and remember, and grieve a little, quietly, calmly.

The next few days I will spend with my Mom and sister as we make the last minute arrangements, and set things up for Sunday’s service.

For tonight, I plan a good night’s sleep and the comfort of spending this time with my family.

On The Bright Side

Part of the wonder of having lived through a closed head injury is that my short term memory is not always that great.

For instance, I must always have a list when I go shopping because I simply cannot recall anything when I get into a store.

I can remember that I do actually own a back dress, but totally forget that it is size 14 and since being on Weight Watchers, I am now wearing a size 8.

You can watch a movie more than once! Enough said.

And today I did the ultimate short term memory loss test, only this was a good one and we actually learned something.

It was time for us to once again invest in a 3 litre jug of Olive Oil. For a few years I have been buying our store brand because it was a single blend Greek Oil. However, economic times are tough, and I didn’t want to pay $24.00 for 3 litres when I could try a new Italian Olive Oil for $10.99. Ah but the flavor was important. Still….

So we bought the cheaper one and on the way home I said to Hubby, “Listen, I have a little of the Greek Olive Oil, plus another Italian Olive Oil, and now this new one that we are bringing home. Let’s do a taste test!”

“How do we do that?” he asked.

“Well, we’ll take some Italian bread, and pour a little Olive Oil in three separate bowls, dip the bread, taste and decide.”

So, after I got done putting away all the groceries I got some masking tape. I wrote down on each piece of tape the name of the oil, stuck it on the underside of the dish and then poured in the different Olive Oils.

“Okay.” I said to Hubby, “Come on over and check these out.”

The best part here? Once I had set the bowls on the counter and turned to get the bread, I had completely forgotten which oil was in which dish!

So we took a small piece of bread and tasted each oil. After a few moments we both agreed that the far left dish had the best Olive Oil. I had sort of thought that this dish had the expensive oil in it, but when I looked at the underside, I found:

It was the cheap Olive Oil!!!

So how is having had a closed head injury a good thing, you might ask? Well, you can set up and participate in blind tests like this and be surprised every time!

That is definately, the bright side!

As The Weekend Comes To An End

Here it is, Sunday night and I am sitting here thinking about what I accomplished this weekend.

Ah, well not so much. I could have done more, but I guess I was just feeling tired and a little run down.

I did gather the paperwork for our taxes. I did do a couple of loads of laundry, and I did cook some truly great meals.Tonight’s gourmet treat for Hubby was Baked French Onion Soup!

However, I feel guilty because I should have gotten more done and I just didn’t.

Anneliese has suddenly found her appetite again. I guess her little doggy morning sickness is over. Good thing. She needs to eat well and help those babies grow!

The moles are having a blast in my back yard causing the worst looking mud tunnels all over the place. This lasted until the dogs were out more last year, and then the moles seemed to vanish.

The snow is melting, and there is bare ground in more places than there is snow. It’s funny because when I bring out Anneliese she must find a patch of snow to relieve herself on. What will she do when it is all gone?

The week is before me. I need to prepare for my father’s services next weekend. One thing I discovered today was that the dress I’d thought I was going to wear is 2 sizes too big. I somehow thought it was a smaller dress!

Home Again…& Anneliese

I drove home today. I took a route I have driven hundreds of times and yet today, I missed my exit. I was driving along on the highway, and found myself surrounded by tractor/trailer trucks. They were close and kicking up dirt and made me very nervous. I put my foot to the floor and tried to pass them and they held me and a few other cars out. And that is how I blew my exit.

Up here in northern New England, if you miss an exit, this can mean the next exit might be considerably up the road. This was true. 13 miles up the road!

No worries, I told myself. I looked at the map and planned my route across the state. I started on the alternate route, and got about a third of the way across and the road stopped! It was closed! I had to drive back to the Interstate, and then south 25 miles, to pick up the route I should have been on the first time. Now I was an hour late!

I met Mandy for a little retail therapy (shopping) and then arrived home at 4:00. I was greeted by four happy dogs, two of which smelled like they’d been rolling in something really horrid!

So Greta and Arnie and I all took a shower and got nice and clean. It seems that Anneliese is staying nice and clean these days. But then, perhaps in her delicate condition she finds those horrible smells something to avoid. She is looking adorable these days. Here are two pictures of Anneliese’s belly! What do you think?

March 16 013

March 16 014

My Dad is resting comfortably. I am glad that I got to see him and spend a little time with my Mom and sister. It’ll be the last time that the four of us will be together.

It’s good to be home now, and to be with Hubby and the pups. And the next time I go anywhere I am going to bring my GPS. I sure don’t want to get stuck driving around like that again!

Life’s Happenings

The day was bright, with blue skies and cold winds. Somehow it helped to energize me and get me out to do the shopping and the visiting that I’d wanted to do.

I took Anneliese with me, as she has become almost my “Siamese twin”. Whenever I get my coat on to go out, I find Anneliese sitting at the door waiting for me. It’s a nice change from the shaking little girl that she was before her trip across the Atlantic to meet Isegrim.

We went to the Post Office, and mailed my application to Weight Watchers. Anneliese was also able to bewitch a few people there with her adorable ‘come hither’ look! Oh those big brown eyes of hers, just make people go weak in the knees!

Then I was off to the grocery store to pick up a few things. I ran into a woman I know and her two children. Needless to say, they also got to visit with Anneliese.

My last stop before I got home was at a craftsman’s shop where they sell fine jewelry, pottery and other hand made items, to see my friends, who also love dogs. They’ve been following Anneliese and her foreign love affair and they were happy to see pictures of Isegrim and to see Anneliese. They were thrilled that she has become more confident and no longer shakes with worry.

Yes, Anneliese sure has grown up since her trip to Germany!

I came home and got a call from my sister that my father has been placed in Hospice Care. It’s a blessing, really and now I pray that the good Lord will ease his pain and bring him home.

Today is Friday the 13th. Somehow, it just doesn’t worry me at all. Probably because I am starting to think about life in different terms. I don’t believe in curses or spooky things. Life is life. It’s as good as you make it, and the end? Well, who knows.

Rain, Rain, Rain!

I woke to flashing clocks all around, with the exception of the one clock that sets itself from a satellite. Most of all when I looked at the clock I realized I had over slept! The rain was pouring down and it was quite crappy!!!

Thankfully I had my hair trimmed yesterday and since I have really curly hair, very little needed to be done to get it in order.

I slapped on some make-up so I didn’t look bad enough to scare the elderly and small children and jumped into my suit. Then I raced out the door and drove (carefully), to the Weight Watchers meeting down the road, where I was to give my little talk about Weight Watchers in Germany.

It went surprisingly well and after I got an application to become a Leader. Who knows if it will work out, but I would truly love to be a Weight Watcher leader.

Fingers Crossed!!!

Fortunately, the rain lessened as the day progressed and I was able to get the dogs out a few times. Hubby helped out with this as he was clearing the slush from the driveway before it had the chance to freeze and become a total disaster.

Anneliese seemed to enjoy it, although she got a bit cold and so she was happy when I put her sweater on. I wonder if she thinks about Isegrim when she has it on. After all, she wore it after each of her “sessions” with him.

Once again, she is asleep and I hope so very much she is growing little babies in her belly!

Fingers Crossed!!!

Back In Time!!!

Today was the first day I have felt as though I were operating in the correct time zone! Yippee!! I slept until a normal time, actually was able to do some house work. I also did some laundry, and cooked a reasonably good dinner, and at the end I still had energy enough to do a great clean up job in the kitchen!

I worked on the computer, paid some bills and folded clothes. I was productive! Yahoo! I think I can safely report an end to the Jet Lag!!!

The dogs had a good time playing outside. It was a little warmer today, and although Fritz sunk in the snow, the dackels still can run on top of it. They sure had fun chasing a ball and just chasing around after each other.

I love watching them play like this. It reminds me how lucky I am to have them and also that they get along so well.

Anneliese is doing well. She loves to be outside playing and yet curled up and took a nice long nap this afternoon as well. Yes, she is the apple of my eye!

Getting Back

I worked hard today to get back into gear with my life. I was up early, showered and made my breakfast to bring along with me to Weight Watchers.

Yes, today I faced the scale.

My heart was in my throat as I recalled all the wonderful food I had eaten in Germany (not to mention the beer!). I stripped down to my usual boxer shorts, and tank top and stepped on the scale and ……….

Down .2 pounds!!!!!

Okay, I realize that 2 tenths of a pound isn’t a big deal, but if you could see what I ate while visiting Uschi, you would have been convinced that I would have gained at least 5-10 pounds! HA!

After class I had my yearly mammo, and then came home to make lunch for Hubby and me.

I’d hoped to be a bit more productive today and I started to email with my cousin, and I actually fell asleep in the middle of that. This whole sleep thing is sad. Maybe it’s not Jet Lag, maybe it is a cold or something.

Tomorrow the plan is to get out and get some exercise in the hopes that I will feel better. I’m going to ski in the morning and then make a nice dinner in the evening.

Meanwhile I am watching Anneliese carefully. I just have this very good feeling that she is, in fact pregnant. Just a couple of weeks and we will know.

There Is No Nightlife!

I have come to realize that I do not cross time zones easily. Going east to Europe I seemed to do okay, but had the overwhelming feeling of utter exhaustion for several days, but it was nothing a good strong cup of German coffee couldn’t cure.

Anneliese and I did rendezvous with the great out of doors at 2:30 in the morning for several days, but soon she fell into German time and we both slept through the night.

Hot flashes seemed to occur at any time, as my body could not decide where the heck it was in relationship to my menopausal symptoms. I kept a sweater by my side so that I could cover up with a chill or pull it off when I flashed!

Then I came home.

At first I was nearly punchy with lack of sleep. I went 22 hours without sleep that night. I hoped that this would help me get back to East Coast time quickly, alas I was wrong. It just seemed to make it worse.

I would sit here in the evening with my head bobbing, my vision doubling and eventually my eyes closing and my jaw opening to let lose a giant snore.

I tried taking a nap. I thought perhaps this would help. I slept like a baby, but it didn’t help at all. You should have seen me last night, all decked out in my pajamas, snuggled in my blanket with the dackels all around me. I was trying to watch the CBS comedy line up, but really only made it through “The Big Bang Theory” before going into my sleepy trance!

Hubby tried to get me to stay awake and I tried. Really I did. I even sat in this chair with my eyes open, as if I were truly awake. Finally when I noticed the clock read 9:30 I gathered up the dackels and Fritz and off to bed I went.

30 seconds later, I was asleep!

Today I have tried another avenue. I have stayed awake all day, and at 4:00 this afternoon I made myself the strongest cup of coffee and drank the entire thing. So far I am awake, but then it is only 6:45 PM.

I think it will be a little longer until Anneliese and I are back on time. However, I heard today that this is the weekend that we “Spring Forward” with the clocks!

Just what I need! Another time change to conquer!

Home

Hubby picked Anneliese and I up at the airport last night. The flight from JFK to Boston was delayed, so we got in late. I was exhausted! Anneliese was too.

Hubby brought the other three dogs, and although I was concerned about all the craziness in the car affecting Anneliese, it turned out that all was well and it gave all the dogs a chance to get used to each other before we got home.

The flight from Berlin to JFK was fabulous. I had a good seat, a pleasant seatmate and Anneliese was a dream. And surprisingly, the Captain that flew me over also flew me back! Small world, yes?

Today her heat is easing up, and this is a little bit of an indication that perhaps she is pregnant, although we will not know for another month.

It was tough to say good-bye to Uschi.

I will say that the airport staff was so nice to both Anneliese and me. Do you see my green brocade suitcase? It held up just fine thus, I think I will have this K-Mart special a little longer!

However, it is good to be home and to be sleeping in my own bed with my own pillow.

Today was laundry day, but the rest of the day I kicked back and didn’t do too much. I am hoping for a longer night sleep tonight (I was awake at 2:30 this morning), waking and feeling like my old self again!

I hope to be visiting everyone else’s blogs this week. I’ve missed hearing what’s going on with you!

Happy Sunday everyone!