My Life – Page 162 – The Dackel Princess

The One About Poop

I am flexible. I had begun to think that I wasn’t during my first month at the health club. However, in the last week I have learned that I am not strong, but I am definitely flexible.

You see, since I hurt my knee I have still had to clean and maintain the puppy room. This means cleaning up their poop and wet newspapers. How do I do that when I can’t bed my knee? I bend at my waist, that’s how!

I wasn’t certain I still could move like that. After all, it’s been years since I actually had to do that. Although I have the dachshunds, I have always had the ability to bend my knees in order to pick them up. Bending at the waist? Well, not so much.

Nothing will get you bending faster than 5 puppies about to leap into their own poop!

I get up each morning and hobble out to the puppy room. I am always equipped with a large kitchen garbage bag, a pooper scooper and a bucket and mop!

I’ve got this whole, clean up after the long night thing, down to a science, but you have to move fast. Fast is something that, no matter how hard I try, is simply not possible when I’m dealing with a painful knee. Moderately fast is about all I can do.

I clean up, put down fresh newspaper (which, of course, is fouled quickly), and then I feed my little munchkins. I do this, by once again bending from the waist, and placing their dish on the floor.

Then I make coffee.

Yes, even more amazing than the fact that I am able to bend from the waist and accomplish so much on the floor is, I do it all before I have my first cup of coffee.

Yes, I know. I rock!

This And That

I have now graduated to a cane. Ah yes., a cane. At first I thought that if Hugh Laurie can do it, then so can I, but I soon found that using a cane successfully truly was a challenge. Pain is a great motivator though and I soon found my rhythm and was getting around pretty well. So what’s the problem? I did too much. By noon I could feel my knee really hurting, and tonight, well, not so good.

A good friend of mine came to spend time with the babies today and we took them out and played with them. I am watching the pups carefully these days as I am trying to evaluate which of the two female pups would be best for our family. Anneliese is a strong, energetic pup, with a sweet nature and endless amounts of devotion. She is also hysterically funny.

Anita is a sweet, pup, slightly less energetic, but who loves to play with Greta. I have also noticed that she will go up to check out Fritz, but when he gets upset, she will back off and give him his personal space. She loves to curl up in your lap and she is a kisser. She loves to be held and knows her name.

In fact all the pups seem to know their names. I’m surprised by this, but pleasantly so. They also come running to the door when they hear the can opener grinding, or when they hear me open my bedroom door in the morning.

Life is so good right now, despite my knee. Every day is full of wonder as I watch my babies grow and change. Yes, life if good!

I’m Just Wondering…..

I had Anita out today, to play quite a bit. She is a real hoot. Greta was playing with her and the two of them rolled around, chased each other and had so much fun. I did too. I love watching Greta play with one of her babies. As I sat there watching, it sort of dawned on me, that although Greta is very good with all her babies and is a wonderful Mother, she actually acts like a puppy herself with Anita. Had I been more flexible I would have jumped up and gotten the video camera and would be boring you with a mother/daughter video.

However, I couldn’t do that, so I sat back and just watched. Anita didn’t chase Uncle Fritz, and she doesn’t bark like her sister, and she is happy to just play quietly. Mmmmmm……could this be the puppy I should keep? I have said that I need to keep the puppy that is the best fit for our family and perhaps Anita is it. Mmmmmm….stay tuned.

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For anyone wondering, Uncle Fritz is doing better accepting the pups. At least he did okay with Anita this morning. By this I don’t mean to say he was happily playing with her, but after she went back to the puppy room, he went and smelled everywhere that she had been and was accepting of it. Mmmmmm, maybe Anita is the one?

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It was VERY cold here today. I think the highest the temperature got was about 10 degrees F. The winds were also quite strong, at 42 miles an hour. I hope winter is making a brief stop in so we know she still exists, and hen leaves just as quickly. Perhaps if I were in better shape and my knee wasn’t wracked up I would want more snow and more cold, bug for now, I would be happy if it were spring.

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I was actually productive today. I refuse to allow this silly knee to keep me down. I did three loads of laundry, thoroughly cleaned the puppy room and cooked three meals! I’m quite proud. The puppy room is never easy as we take the pups out, put them into a children’s playpen and then literally take everything out of the room, swab the decks and put things back before putting the puppies back into their room. But we got it done and now the entire house smells fresh!

Oooooops!

***Update***

Well it looks like a torn meniscus. I will have an MRI next week and then we will know for sure, how badly injured it is and where we go from there.

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Okay, I am not the most athletic person I know, I have never claimed to be, but yesterday I proved that although I would like to believe I am Peekaboo Street, I’m more like Klutz-a-boo Avenue!

The day started out okay as we arrived at Waterville Valley. The lodge was loaded with kids from the local schools, who were participating in races, a light snow was falling. We had arrived a bit early affording me the time to get ready at a leisurely pace. Our friends arrived and we talked and joked and laughed as we got ready to ski.

The first run was so nice. I felt pretty good. I must say that although I ski, I do not ski “pretty”. My friend, Carol, she skis pretty. Boy I love to watch her! Me? Well the best that you can say is that I get down the mountain!

Yesterday? Not so much.

On our third run I was bringing up the rear of our ski group when I screwed up and caught an edge and down I went. Bing, Bang, Boom!

Yes, you could say that was a bit painful, but the worst part? I couldn’t ski down the mountain, I had to go in the toboggan to the first aid center. Now this is not the way I wanted to go on my first toboggan ride. I had sort of planned that to be with laughing people, on a snowy day and after several “nice runs” we would all sit around and drink hot chocolate.

Not me, I rode down wrapped in an emergency blanket, being pulled by a young man who was young enough to be my son! Hubby met me at the bottom with our friends, where they collected all my gear, and put me in the back of our station wagon and headed off to the Emergency Room at the local hospital. The good news is, nothing is broken, the bad news is…..it hurts like heck!

So today I’m going over to see the P.A. at Hubby’s knee surgeon’s office and I will find out what I have done. I’m a little less sore today and since I spent the night in ice, the swelling is down.

I have to say, I am really embarrassed by this, but since I always share the good, the bad and the embarrassing with you, dear reader, I knew I had to write this down. Call this the confession of the stupid skier!

PS: I’ll let you all know what the doctor says….

My Report Card

I have been on my “healthy lifestyle plan” since the first of the year. I haven’t written about my struggles aside from a few times where I think I have mentioned sore bones, so today I thought I would update you on my progress.

You know I refuse to call this a diet. After all, if I do that then I will fail. I need to rework the way I eat and hopefully by doing this I can finally control my weight longterm.

I’m cooking some really fun meals with a lot of fresh vegetables, and I’ve been adapting old recipes to slim them down. I also make myself the most wonderful salad everyday at lunch. I really look forward to that. I have also found that I actually can drink water if I get the flavored varieties. Unfortunately I am one of those people who finds plain water just too….plain and not enjoyable, but a flavored water helps me to get that liquid in.

I found a great way to work some chocolate back into my diet. By skiing in sub-zero temperatures, for two and a half hours, I can safely have a sugar free hot chocolate!

Okay, back to the nitty gritty. I started exercising right after the first of the year. I’ve been either going to the gym or up to the mountain to ski. I have also cut out the fats, bad carbs and in between snacks I have, for years adored. I have also started drinking more tea. It calms me.

So, how have I done? In the month I have been on my “healthy lifestyle plan“, I have lost 11 pounds and I have really gained back quite a bit of my strength.

I have been using the elliptical machine, the stationary bike, swimming and best of all, lifting weights!

Here I am with two of my favorite weights!

Who says there are no perks when you are lifting weights?

Puppy Prescription

There are days when each of us doesn’t feel too well. A cough, a sniffle, a little cold. Today was a day like that for me. I felt run down, and quite tired and all the color had vanished from my face. I slept in a little after helping Hubby get off for a morning of skiing, and then when I got up and showered and dressed, I sat back down not wanting to do much at all.

However my little friends wanted to play and before I knew it, they had me laughing and smiling with their antics, their kisses and yes, running around the puppy room like little hellions.

It sure did pick up my spirits.

Too Old For A 2 O’Clock Feeding!

We removed the whelping box and set the room up with three puppy beds, all the puppy toys and a good amount of newspapers on the floor. They run around now, climb up on the beds and are sturdy little creatures, and each day they steal my heart a little more!

Greta and Anneliese

At 2:30 this morning the pups were up and hungry. Greta wanted to go out, so I let her, and then made up some puppy food for the babies. The ate like hungry tigers and then crawled all over me, before getting tired and finally going back to sleep. I had hoped they would let me sleep in a little, but at 6 AM they had me up again to eat!

Greta is not nursing them much now, so I have had to step up their meals. While I am feeding them, Greta will sit on the other side of the security board and watch. If I were to turn my back, she would swoop in and steal their food, but I watch her so that my babies all get something to eat.

All this night duty has made me a bit tired. So, Greta and I have started sleeping a little during the day. Ordinarily I don’t take naps, but I’m 48 years old, and 2 AM feedings aren’t what this old girl is used to!

Me with Greta, catching some sleep.

Bloggers Reunion!

Today My cousin Janet, my dear friend Megan, brought a special guest Heather, to our home. Along with Hubby and Emily, we’d been planning this for a few weeks, and it worked out so well, as the puppies are just at a great age to entertain us all for hours.

This was the first time I’d met Heather in person, although I have been reading her blog for a couple of years. I felt like I knew her so well. In fact, she was just as wonderful as I knew she would be and fit in here, at puppy central quite well.

I made a bunch of appetizers and Janet brought some too, and Megan brought the most devilishly delightful Whoopee Pies for dessert!

My only complaint is that the time flew and before we knew it, the gals had to go. We had snow here most of the day, light snow, but enough to make the roads slippery. As sad as I was to see them go, I knew it was wise to get going before dark.

Here is a short video, of the girls as they took pictures of the pups. I teased them that they were the “Puppy Paparazzi”!

Make photo slide shows at onetruemedia.com

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In other news, today the pups are 5 weeks old. They are no longer walking around. No, now they are running. I’ll try to get some more video of them doing just that later this week, but I put together some pictures that Megan, Emily and I took. I hope you enjoy this little Montage.

Make an online slide show at onetruemedia.com

I’m A Hottie!

I rolled over at 7:30 and tried not to wake up. Since I began this “get in shape” routine, last week, I have worked out every day but Sunday. I am getting good results already, but the feeling of being overwhelmingly exhausted has not left me. I also find that lifting my legs to walk up the stairs is a real ordeal. Okay, maybe it’s too soon to say that the results are good.

As I sat in the ladies locker room at the health club, after my shower this morning, I felt a sudden rush of heat. Yes, there is nothing more delightful than a hot flash after a hard workout and shower.

That was when I laughed.

Yes, I think I have lost my mind. Suddenly hot flashes seemed extraordinarily humorous to me. You see, I spent most all of my life feeling cold. My brother in-law once teased me about wearing knee socks in the summer, but quite honestly I needed them. I was also the woman who has slept next to Hubby all these years in the summer, when he is completely naked and sweating and there I lie in flannel pajamas, socks and a comforter! So this new body change, called a “hot flash” is a real hoot.

I’m not claiming that suddenly I am like 99.9% of the population in the world. I still have cold feet, and I still wear flannel to bed. It’s just that I have these moments when I feel as if I have run a marathon on a hot summer day and my face is red and the sweat is pouring off my brow.

They bothered me at first and then one day, I realized that these “hot flashes” actually crack me up! I mean this is definitely a great example of the good Lord having a sense of humor! And…..that the good Lord is a man!

“Year Of Living Healthfully”

It was time to put up or shut up, and since I live in a house with my husband, who wasn’t about to let me forget my New Years resolution this soon, I actually started my “Year Of Living Healthfully” today.

Hubby reminded me last night. He placed the application for the Health Club on the breakfast bar with a pen. He also “noticed” what I was eating on New Years Day (still a holiday, right?), so I knew I was sunk.

I packed a bag with sneakers, a towel, a stretchy leotard type thing that I’ve had for years, and my swim suit. After eating my diet breakfast this morning, off to the gym we went.

I have to tell you, I’m a shy sort of girl. I don’t like changing my clothes in front of anyone, Hubby laughs because he says he’s not sure I am totally comfortable changing in front of him. Needless to say, since gaining back some of this weight, he is probably right.

I put on a cheerful face and off we went. I signed in, and tried not to feel as if I were signing my death warrant, however, tonight I am here to tell you, I sure feel like I did.

I rode bikes, I walked on treadmills, I pushed weighed, I pulled weighs, I lifted a little. I walked some more. Then I changed into my swim suit and did laps. Actually the pool part was the best. Warm water soothing all the places that had already started to ache.

Now the really tough part. Showering, and getting from the showers to the changing area without anyone seeing me. You see, my towel was too small. I am not sure what I was thinking when I packed it, but this thing only covered about 1/2 my body! So I raced from the showers to the dressing room, opened my combination lock in record time, and got into my clothes with the speed of a teenager who attempts to put out his cigarette and clear the smoke, when he hears his parents drive up early from a movie!

Thankfully, I was able to get into my unmentionables before anyone walked in on me. I quickly finished dressing, and did my hair and then chatted nervously with a few women who had come in to change.

Tonight I feel as if I have been worked over by a prize fighter. Everything sort of hurts, aches and feels heavy, reminding me that what I once got away with in my 20’s I can’t get away with now in my (eeek!) late 40’s.

Day 1 of the “Year Of Living Healthfully” has ended with me eating correctly all day and exercising more than I have in about three years!