The Dackel Princess

I am so lucky to have my cousin Janet. She is able to think of amazing things to do, and to pull me out of my sadness and get me going.

So it was this weekend.

She and her new Hubby, Dave came up and we had a wonderful cookout here with Janet’s brother Larry and his fiancee Cindy on Saturday. We had everything from stuffed eggs, to cheeseburgers to corn on the cob! Dessert was a chocolate wedding cake for the love birds!

We managed to get the cookout in before the skies opened and it poured! We watched two movies, “When Harry Met Sally” and “The Descendents”. Both really great movies.

Sunday morning we got up early and Janet, Dave and I headed north for the Lancaster, NH Fair. It’s an annual event and it is so well done, with farm animals and 4-H projects that the local kids have been working on all year.

We had decided not to over eat. So what we did was find the Fair Food we liked and then share it. It worked out perfectly. I love fried dough with butter and powdered sugar. Janet loves kettle corn, Dave loves ribs and fried scallops. All were available, and we split them three ways. Dessert was even better. A strawberry Sundae and Apple Crisp.

We went in every tent with every sort of animal. We saw goats and pigs,

and cows

and bulls. We saw miniature horses and draft horses that pull large loads. We saw horses with little friends,

and strangely beautiful ones too.

We also got there early enough to see the dressage competition.

Today was life affirming and meeting the local people and the local kids, reminded me that life does indeed go on. And that happiness is all around, if only one stops, takes the time and looks.

Hubby and I  got up at zero dark thirty and headed for Boston on Monday. At first all was well, and surprisingly, the traffic was moving right along and then, at the border of New Hampshire and Massachusetts, the traffic stopped dead!

My heart sank! Hubby was relentless and careful, but I was a nervous wreck! Do you know how crazy people drive early in the morning on their way to work!

A few exits in to Massachusetts things opened up a bit and we were sailing along. I breathed a sigh of relief, believing that we would make my appointment.

We took out turn off of Route 93 onto Storrow Drive and BAM! The traffic came to a complete stop!

Holy crap!

We began to plan what we would do if we reached the point of just making the appointment. I’d jump from the car, run to his office and Hubby would join me after parked the car.

But for some reason, we actually made it! Yay us! And then, the doctor was running late! I just had to laugh!

He took out the stitches, and he’s not sure yet if I will need more surgery or not. I’m still quite swollen and bruised. So, I go back in a month and I will find out then.

Meanwhile, here I am.

What do you think?

Today I’m down at the doctor getting out my stitches. Below is a picture of me taken on Sunday. Hubby and I think the nose is looking good, but the eyebrow is still a problem. It is very swollen and still not pointing correctly on my face. But…we will see what the good doctor has to say. It is such a relief to have such a good doctor now. I trust him implicitly.

My oven decided to stop working! The stove is 13 years old so certainly I have gotten my money’s worth out of it, but now I need to take a big chunk of my savings, and buy a new stove! We’re researching things as much as we can. I wish I could afford one of those super duper machines. But I don’t have $4000.00 lying around.

Instead I will buy an average priced machine and really, all I want is for it to be self cleaning! The rest of the stove magic, I hope to do myself.

Tonight’s dinner was terrible. I mean how do you cook things with only a toaster oven, microwave and a stove-top burner? All I can say is, that I hope by weeks end we have a new kitchen range

I’ve been thinking the last few days that I am sinking into depression. I have not been sweeping floors, dusting shelves or mopping. I’ve just been getting by.

It started when I was diagnosed with cancer back in February, and I don’t think I have been right since.

This morning I got up and thought about the disaster in my house. So, after breakfast I vacuumed everything, mopped the wood floors and dusted.

Then I took the 12 boxes of slides and returned them to the bookcase. It was actually painful to do that, but having them in the office only served to remind me of the passing of my mother.

I water the garden, which has mostly died. I wasn’t able to keep up with it, and I maybe had two summer squash and 5 zucchini. I did have plenty of beans and pickling cucumbers. But no eggplant. The tomatoes are still coming in. So, I am hopeful for more tomatoes to make sauce with.

So I’m working really hard to get back to feeling like myself, but I realized that I will never quite be that person.

I am lucky. I still have my sister. She will now be the person I share my childhood with.

Last March, when I had my first surgeries, I did okay without my glasses. I could see the TV, I could navigate around the house, heck, in a pich I could have driven the car. I think I did too!

However, with my latest surgery and the fact that cannot wear my glasses, I have noticed that I cannot see a darn thing!

Even bringing my font size up has not really helped. I find myself reaching for my glasses often, and even while I hold them in front of my eyes, I’m just not seeing too well.

I think after the recovery from this surgery is over, I will need a complete exam and new glasses. This should be good.

I’m thinking Harry Potter glasses, as I now have the Voldemort mark on my forehead. I could be Harry Potter’s older sister!