My Life – Page 57 – The Dackel Princess

What I Did This Past Weekend

Our host is Gattina. Come join us and tell us what YOU did this past weekend! After all, you never know when you will need an alibi!

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Hi Everyone, welcome to Monday. My weekend was a good one. It’s the first time since this whole skin cancer thing began that I actually stopped thinking (negatively) about myself, and started to see the lilacs, the sunshine and yes even a wonderful Pileated Woodpecker who has taken up residence in our yard!

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This is Woody Woodpecker! A male Pileated Woodpecker!

I knew he was in our area, because I could hear his incessant tapping on the trees, but until today I had never seen him. This morning I had gone outside with Anneliese to get the paper, and I heard the tapping. I looked up and there he was!

Now these birds are pretty large. 12-15 inches in length! When they are in flight their under wings are white, despite their black tops!

I stood there, snapping pictures, and I forgot all about myself! Isn’t it amazing how when something happens to us, like cancer, or a severe trauma, often times we get so lost in ourselves that we forget about all the wonderful things happening around us.

So here I am, in my nightgown, in the back yard snapping pictures, of this marvelous creature, and suddenly I felt the world had opened back up to me!

Our lilacs are blooming and when I walk through the yard I am overwhelmed with their sweetness.

Lilacs are my favorite flower and I have them all over the edges of my yard. The sight, the smell, reminds me that there is a God in Heaven, for certainly no mere mortal could have thought up something so very splendid!

In the afternoon on Sunday I did the re-potting of the patio plants (tomatoes, eggplants and peppers), and made a venison stew.

And because I wasn’t busy enough, I also did laundry and made biscuits to go with the stew. I just told Hubby I am nearly done for the day, he just smiled and laughed. I think he is happy to see me living life again!

Being Scolded By FaceBook

I went off to the hair stylists today to get my roots done. This erases the tell tale signs that I’m getting old by taking that gray and washing it away!

When I got done, I came home and went to sign into Facebook to check on everyone. What I found sort of shocked me.

I was being scolded by Facebook for being an over tag-er. They claim I tag too many people when I post pictures.

Now, in my own defense, the only time I tag people is when I am posting Savannah pictures and I never tag more than 6-7 people at a time. And then, I only tag family members.

Today I was forced to take a test where they sort of shamed me for tagging people. At the end, I was told I would be monitored and if I continue to “over tag” I will be suspended.

I’ve wondered if someone I have tagged in photo’s (so they could see Savannah right off) complained about me?

I really do not know. What I will do in the future is make an album of the pictures and then send a post separately to contact the family.

Meanwhile, Facebook really made me feel bad, and I just didn’t need that!

Monday’s Happenings!

Monday found me trying to catch up with stuff around the house, as well as begin my ultimate plans of selling our pick-up truck and motor coach. The pick-up truck was a breeze. It’s sold and will be picked up on Monday.

However, the same deal gave me a rather insulting lowball offer on the motor coach, so now I am planning to advertize on a web site and Craigs List. Perhaps Ebay as well.

Since Hubby’s stroke a few years back, we have not used the motor coach and it is time to get it….gone.

When we were in there today I noticed a few things need to be done. I need to vacuum and wash done things, and also remove all of our stuff and have clean, clear shelves.

I want it ready so that if someone buys it, they can take it the same day if they want to. So cleaning of the motor coach comes very soon.

Meanwhile, I made a quick dinner of meatloaf and mashed potatoes and carrots. Easy.

Tuesday I am off to The King Arthur Museum! I shall report in tomorrow!

Happy Mother’s Day

My favorite picture of Mandy and Me. Yesterday she made a beautiful meal to celebrate Mother’s Day.

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And here are some new ones of our darling Savannah!

She will be a year old in just a couple of weeks!

My daughter is the best mother. Savannah is sweet and happy and I know it is because she has such a wonderful mother.

She is taking her first few steps and eating everything. She loves angel cake and whipped cream!

I got right down there on the floor and had a blast playing with her!

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Best of all, she loves me so matter what I look like. That is such a wonderful feeling!

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This was the best Mother’s Day ever!

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Happy 8th Blogaversary To Me!

Here we are eight years down the road and I am still writing Dackel Princess. I started writing back then, thinking no one would read me, and that blogging would be something I didn’t do for very long.

I’d promised myself that if I was paying to blog, I would blog each day. It was incentive for me. So despite surgeries, vacations and births and deaths, I have written every day for the last eight years.

Oh sometimes it was fluff, you know question and answer stuff, but many times I actually sat down and poured my heart out to you all. I’ve shared my happiness and sadness, and my fear. And you have been so wonderfully supportive of me.

I have no idea how long I will blog, but I would like to think that I will be sharing myself with my little part of the world for a long time.

So, Happy Blogaversary to me!

It’s Late

We just got in from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Concert, and it was fantastic, but it is late and we have to be up early in the morning, so I am going to say good night for now and I promise I will write all about this event tomorrow.

I will say that I spent an entire evening smiling and just feeling good! It’s been a while! Oh how very nice that was!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. When the children of today grow up, what do you think they’ll say about this period in time? What do you most hope they remember?

I hope that like all children in time they will remember the love of their families. I was just thinking about Savannah and how she is such a happy child.

My daughter is a fantastic mother, and Savannah is one of the happiest children that I know.

2. National Teacher’s Day is celebrated in the US of A on the first Tuesday in May, this year May 7th…share how a particular teacher positively impacted you.

Miss Norris, my second grade teacher. She was wonderful and warm, and made me want to learn.

3. What’s a dish your mama made, that if set in front of you today would whisk you right back to childhood?

My mom’s Sauerbraten. I make a fair Sauerbraten myself, but I always think of her when I make it.

4. Mother May I was a game we played when I was growing up…no pieces, parts, or plugs required. What games from childhood do you remember loving that were also pieces, parts, and plug-free?

I loved my Barbie dolls, and made clothes for them out of scrap material. But if we are taking about games, we did used to ride our bikes pretending they were horses, and climb trees, and doing flips and cartwheels and splits on the lawn.

5. Besides your own mother, tell us about a woman who influenced you as a child?

My Grandmother, Mary Francis Daniel Prussman.

She was a ladies, lady and taught me so much.

6. Mamma Mia! What’s the best play or musical you’ve ever seen?

Probably not THE best, but I loved it nonetheless! I love the ABBA music and I thought Meryl Streep was awesome! I also love The Sound of Music! Probably because I played Gretel in our community theater when I was a child!

Yes, that is me age 8 years old playing Gretel.

7. What are three smells that make you feel nostalgic?

Bread baking in the oven, lilacs and baking chocolate chip cookies. As you can see, food smells really dominate my pleasure centers.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I’m still struggling with my face.

I’ve never been a patient person, and yet it appears I will have to be. Meanwhile, I am returning to Weight Watchers today and plan to get myself physically back in shape!

What I Did This Past Weekend

Our host is Gattina. Come join us and tell us what YOU did this past weekend! After all, you never know when you will need an alibi!

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The fourth of May was Hubby’s 75th birthday. So on Saturday I baked a nice sugar free cake and even popped a bottle of champagne for the big day!

The rest of the weekend was spent tending my seedlings, doing laundry and taking care of Mr. Fritz again. I really think he has doggy dementia, as he had another episode of confusion again.

We watched some wonderful old movies too. “The Taking of the Shrew” with a young, beautiful Elizabeth Taylor (what a perfect nose she had! Yes, I now tend to look at people’s noses all the time! lol!) and Richard Burton. Great movie!

My friend returned home with her husband after a vacation in Florida! I stopped on my way home today when I saw them in their yard. It was their first view of my face since this past surgery.

Here is my face this weekend. It is still bright red, and very sore, but I decided to just keep on going and not let it get me down.

This & That Friday

On Thursday my Internet Connection was mostly down. We’ve been having problems with the connection for a few weeks. We’ve had two house calls now and hopefully this time they have it. If not, they will have to dig up the line and replace it. A really big deal!

Today I decided it was time for me to go out alone. Just a quick trip to the town hall to register cars, and the grocery. Two things became abundantly clear to me during my trip.

I need to work harder each day to present myself. I have really not spent the time I should doing my hair or dressing or anything. No, I have not become a Walmart dresser wearing pajama bottoms and hoodies that say “Whose Ya Baby” on the back, but I can do better.
I need to find a good, pretty, sunhat that will protect my face from the sun. Today when the sun hit my face when I went from my car to the store, I was amazed at how much the sun bothered my face. But then, that is how I got into this mess isn’t it?

Fritz is doing better and we will bring him in for his doctor’s appointment in a few days. I didn’t feel the need to rush after he literally woke up and was back to normal. I’m still watching him like a hawk, but he does seem to have recovered.

The News

The news, my dear friends, is very good. I will not need radiation on my nose! It is something I’d worried about since this all started, but today I learned that all is well.

I also had my head to toe check, and there are no other lesions at this time. Good, good, news!

Then I went to get my stitches out, and that was when I got the bad news.

I suppose it is not completely bad news, I mean the stitches are out, and the cancer is gone.

The bad news is that they want to wait several months before they finish my face. It means I will walk around looking like this:

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for quite a while. I have never thought much about my face, but today, when a four year old little girl was frightened by my face, I admit, to dissolving into tears.

I got no good answers from the plastic surgeons, nurse practitioner. She was the one who took out my stitches. She was rather curt with me, which only made it all worse.

I wonder how long it will be, or if I will ever be able to look in the mirror and see my familiar face.

I am trying hard not to be too worried, but I am. This time I am worried for the one part of this whole process that I hadn’t considered.

My self esteem.

Right now it is in the basement!