My Life – Page 158 – The Dackel Princess

A Puppy Heart Attack

We have a refrigerator out in our motor coach. When I need more space for food, I often turn it on. So, today I was putting the fridge in the motor coach on and Fritz came with me. He likes to help. When I came back in to the house Fritz stayed outside.

I went to take my shower and start my day. I took my shower and Hubby took his right after. As I stood in our bedroom in my bra and panties, in comes Fritz. I spoke to Fritz, Greta and Arnie and I start looking for Anneliese. No puppy! I went into the kitchen and I saw the sliding glass door open!!! Shoot! Fritz had let himself into the house!

I was panic stricken! I raced back into the bedroom to grab my bathrobe and I was calling Anneliese the entire time. I yelled to Hubby what had occurred. Then as I reached the kitchen door I saw Anneliese. There she was, in the back yard on the hill! She came running into the house!

Oh my God! My heart beat like it was going to leap right our of my chest! I thought I would die.

At this point Hubby and I have talked it over and decided to try harder to remember to lock the door when Fritz is out. The bugger is just too smart!

And Mommy Maribeth doesn’t need another heart attack!!!

Full Of Love

One day I think, I’m so in love with Arnie that I can’t imagine not having him. The next day I think I am so in love with Anneliese that I can’t imagine life without her. I already adore Fritz and Greta, and I couldn’t possibly choose between them, but now I have this whole new love affair going with the puppies. They are so sweet, so loving and yet, so different.

Fritz

is your usual big dog. He loves to be outside with his daddy and he loves more than anything to sit under the peach tree with as many toy balls as he can find. He can be sweet, but he is also independent, in a big dog sort of way.

Greta

is a sweet, loving dog, but she has a wildness to her that the others do not. She will chase down a mole in the field and watch for the cat next door to go and sun itself on the rock near our front window. She just loves to sit. To watch. And then bark to let us know that the gray cat is on our rock!

Anneliese

She stole my heart early on. At Christmas I told Uschi I thought maybe I was going to keep this little girl. She is a comical puppy. She loves to curl up and is full of love, but she loves to do what I call her commando crawl. She will have a toy in her teeth and then crawl across the floor like she is on a mission with the military. She is always full of kisses and although she is petite, she has a big spirit!

My surprise love is Arnie

I have never been a boy dog lover. My cousin is laughing at me about this, I am sure. Arnie came to us because the people who were due to buy him changed their minds. How lucky for me! Arnie is the sweetest of dogs. He wants to be in your lap, at your side, he follows me around the house and sits at my feet while I prepare meals or when I do the dishes. His heart is so big I can’t believe it. Of all he dogs, he is the one who is the easiest. He is the lover of all.

So I am hopelessly hooked on this wonderful group of dogs. How could I ever chose to have just one?

The Good & The Frustrating…

It was a productive day, just a bit frustrating.

It started with me bathing all three dachshunds with a new shampoo. Mmmmm. Smelled good, and now they all smell good. Emily helped me to dry them all off and then she snuggled Arnie for a while.

My big goal, after that was to get a four foot rigid kiddie pool for the pups. I wanted to get it now so they could play in it during the coming heat wave, but I also want to get this pool now for use next year when Greta has her next litter. This plastic pool would be so easy to keep clean and would literally grow with the pups.

I called Wal-$@*! which is about 15 miles from here and asked if they had this pool. “Sure!” I was reassured and so I set off to pick it up. When I arrived I found NO POOLS!!! Surely this was a mistake. I asked to see the manager who apologized and then assured me that another Wal-$@*! had it. This was another 10 miles. So off I went. When I got there…you guessed it. No pools!!!

I decided it was not my day and didn’t even bother to get upset. I bought myself an electric curler set and then I called Hubby and asked if he wanted anything from that end of town and he wanted two bottles of Scotch that were on sale. Not a problem, but oh do I wish I could drink. After a day like this I could use a stiff scotch!

I arrived home and was greeted by four loving dogs and one grateful husband. I got kisses from all and then sat down to rest. I was tired.

Of course pups and Hubby alike needed to be fed. Steaks, for us, and the usual for the doggies. Now we are all happy and cuddling and I am ending the day with a nice German coffee. What a treat!

Kids, Dogs and Love

One of our little neighborhood girls came by. Our house is now the place where the kids come. They play with the dogs, help me with cooking or the gardening, but most of all, I think they come to talk.

Today Jacqui came by. She was feeling angry at her Mom for restricting her on playing on the trampoline before it was properly set up. I listened intently to all she said before I offered my words of wisdom. (Or what seems like wisdom to a 10 year old.)

I explained how much her mother loves her and would not want her to fall and break a leg or arm or worse yet to be killed. I told her how mothers always try to do their best to protect their kids.

She looked up at Katie’s picture and I explained that sometimes you can’t even do that, but at least Katie and I had spoken only words of love before the accident.

She was calmer when she left and I hope tonight when she kisses her mother goodnight there will be some real affection and understanding between them.

Meanwhile, the pups just get to be more and more fun. Arnie is nearly as big as Greta, while Anneliese remains petite. It is so hard to believe that they weighed the same at birth!

Hubby took this great picture of the three dachsies this morning while they watched the early morning activities on the lake.

Arnie, Anneliese and Greta

Yes, between the love from our dogs and for them as well, and the children of our neighborhood who seem to find their way to our home, and the love that exists between us, life is good.

Thursday Thirteen #45

The Definitions of Dieting
Or Why Diets Are So Tough…

1. Salads I know I will be eating a salad at least once per day. Don’t get me wrong. I like salad, but I don’t like to eat them ALL the time.

2. Lean meats. Mostly I eat lean meats anyway. But I sure do like my juicy hamburgers!

3. Fish. I, of course, like the expensive stuff, like Lobster, Shrimp and Crab. I will simply have to learn to love Scrod and Haddock.

4. Water. Well, until I discovered Dasani and Fruit-2-O waters I really had trouble drinking that much water. Now I can get down enough water to make the diet work.

5. I will miss my chocolate! I love chocolate so much. I have often said that should we find the world would end tomorrow I would get as much dark chocolate as possible and every bottle of Tokai and go out with a smile on my face!

6. I will miss my cheap bread. Nothing like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on wonder bread. This diet requires whole wheat/whole grain bread. I somehow doubt that my PB&J will taste the same on that!

7. Exercise. Shoot. I wish I could miss that. But alas, I know I need to get out there and start walking with the puppies. I still maintain that exercise is a 4 letter word not to be uttered in mixed company! LOL

8. Sugar Free Jello-O. Yeah, that’ll be my “treat”. Now Jello never did it for me as a kid, and now I’m supposed to be all happy because I can eat the sugar free stuff twice a day!

9. Vegetables. Well, I do like a lot of veggies and my garden will be producing in about a month. I am so looking forward to that!

10. I will spend time trying new recipes. Perhaps I can actually find some new skinny recipes that taste good. If I do, I will share it with you all.

11. Ever notice how the diet recipes all start with a vegetable? Why not chocolate?

12. I plan to keep a diary on my computer of my weight, what I eat and the pounds lost.

13. When I weigh close to my goal weight I shall share it all with you. For now, knowing I am pleasingly plump will have to suffice. LOL

Paint, Dirt and A Little Nap

Today I finished the painting, ironed and put the curtains up in that room.

I also, weeded the garden (or more precisely we cultivated the garden, but that’s about the same thing) and I worked out with both puppies so that they start to learn to walk in a circle for their presentation to the German judge in the fall. I came in, feeling exhausted and dehydrated and sat down to an iced coffee. Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!

Then I glanced over and saw this:

Now, doesn’t she look comfy?

Sunday Aches & Pains

The day started earlier than usual because of my aches. I got up and started moving, with hope that I would loosen up. Ha! All I did was ache some more. I am nearly done with the [painting and the room looks good. Stay tuned for some pictures later in the week.

Once I was done with that, Emily came over and I was talked into having a cookout here at 1 PM. I had hot-dogs and I had just made potato salad, so I just needed some hamburgers and rolls and I was good to go. I also made my “Double Chocolate Pie” and Wow was that a good dessert for a summer day. (see recipe below).

Now I am sitting tired and almost ready for bed. I think I will sleep like Sleeping Beauty. I am that tired!

Leonardo Da Princess

Oh sweet Mother Of God! Do I ache!

I had decided a couple of weeks ago to repaint the puppy room. It had taken a beating when the puppies owned the room, and so I wanted to clean it up and put a fresh coat of something delicious on the walls.

I selected “Cinnamon Coffee Cake” from Home Depot as the color in a nice eggshell finish. I knew it would warm the place up a little, as stark white can be a bit too bright.

Now back when Hubby and I built the house in 1998-99 I did all the painting. Inside and outside. There was no ladder that I didn’t climb and no job too big or too small. In fact I also hand dipped the 12 thousand shingles that Hubby hammered onto our house.

Now that was 9 years ago. I was about the same weight, but I was 9 years younger and well, I was 9 years YOUNGER!

In the middle of my personal painting chaos, Emily arrived with a friend and they were looking for a project. No I did not draft them to paint (although every fiber of my being craved foisting this job on them!) I had them make Brownies and Chocolate Chip cookies to bring to our shut in neighbor tomorrow. The girls had a blast making the goodies, and even though I got stuck with the clean up I felt good at helping them at the same time I was painting. These kids think I am fantastic because I make things from scratch and not slice and bake cookies, etc.

Click on the image to see the difference in color)

My little job took me all day. I still have more to do. However, I was too tired to finish it up today.

I made dinner and after I got done with that, I crawled into the bathtub and soaked for over half an hour. I came out only because I threatened to shrivel up and become one of the dancing California Raisins!

I still ache now, but will make myself an hermal tea and hope for an early bedtime tonight!

Saturday Scavenger Photo

Grab the Scavenger Hunt code.
Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

HAIR
This is probably one theme I could write and produce page after page about. Those of you who know me know I am always worried, crazy or unsatisfied with my hair. I actually have pretty nice hair, but being the “hair perfectionist” that I am, I am seldon happy with it.

This was taken when I was 13 years old. I am with my dogs, Baby and Laurie. My hair was down to my waist and I remember it being very heavy when I swam or washed it.

When the girls were small I had shoulder length hair. It was easy and still made me look young. From there I grew it back out, and Hubby’s first memory of me was when I had waist length hair again. That did not last, as when I had my car accident I had to cut it short for the plastic surgery to repair my ear and the places that were stitched up.

I kept my hair this length for probably the last 15 years. I know, boring. But I’ve been busy. In February of 2006 I got the worst hair cut of my life. The woman left only about 1 inch of hair on my head!The only good thing about this picture was that it is the last picture taken of me with my Shubi.

I started to grow my hair that very day!
By December 2006, when the puppies came, my hair had grown out a bit.

And now, here we are in June 2007 and I can actually put my hair into a short little pig tail on the back of my head. But most of all, I look like a girl again!

And I will keep growing it for a while. I sort of like looking like a girl!

Remembering

In recent days there has been quite a controversy about the release of the pictures of Princess Diana in her car after the accident. One news show gave you all the key words to use in Google to find them. Did I follow the link and go and look? Yes I did.

Why?

I asked myself this question as I stared at the photo. Because in my minds eye I could see myself.
You see 22 years ago today I was involved in a terrible car accident. I have written about it here. It’s a time of my life that I no longer dwell on (not too much anyway) but it is always with me.

Usually on June 13th I write about my feelings of loss for Katie and I tell you all about how wonderful she was (and she was) and how much I miss her (which I really do). All of this is true, and to a certain extent it is even more painful as the years have gone by. I think of the times I would have had, if she had lived. I think of what she would be like as a grown woman. Yes, the feelings inside of me can overwhelm at times.

As I put together this montage of her pictures I noted with great sadness that there are no more new pictures of Katie. And Amanda and I have grown and changed over the last 22 years. Life has gone on for us, but sadly, not for her.

The music in this montage is sort of interesting. You see one day I drove to pick Katie up at kindergarten and when she saw the car she started jumping up and down waving at me. I can still see that when I hear this song. The lyrics, which many people have never heard, can be found in the extended entry.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I chose to live in the present now. I allow myself two days a year (the anniversary of the accident and Katie’s birthday) to remember, to grieve and to wallow a bit, but it is hard.

She had the most beautiful red curls and dancing green eyes and a little voice that made one think of Leprechauns. She wasn’t perfect, but she was special and sweet and she was my daughter.

The accident forever changed me, and Amanda, but from the ashes of our previous lives, like a Phoenix, we have risen to make a good, happy life in the present.

But you just never forget that time, those events…

…or that wonderful little girl.

Kathleen Alynne

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