The Dackel Princess

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. When were you last facing an ocean? Using just ONE word, describe how you felt as you faced that ocean.

Two years ago when I returned to Cape Cod for my High School Reunion.

One word: Home!

2. What are three sounds you hate to hear?

Sirens from a police or firetruck, an unexplained noise that says something fell, someone choking.

3. This question comes to you courtesy of some real life friends. Hi real life friends! When you shop for yourself, do you try everything on in the store before buying or do you buy, try on at home, and then return what you don’t like or what doesn’t fit?

I try everything on. I usually plan to do this and so I wear easy on easy off clothing.

4. February 26th is National Pistachio Day…are you a fan of the little green nut? Do you use them in cooking and baking or prefer to eat them right out of the shell?

Love pistachios! Any way at all!

5. When did you last have to compromise with someone? Were you happy to reach the compromise or slightly irritated it was necessary?

It’s the TV remote, you see. I love to watch HGTV and Hubby doesn’t. Last night I had to relinquish control and so I brought out my MP3 player and listened to music while he watched a news program.

6. Have you ever written a letter to an elected official? Did you get a response?

No and no. I have gone to meet a few politicians and that’s about as close as I have come to being a fan. (So to speak.)

7. We ‘March’ into a new month at the end of this week…what’s something on your March calendar guaranteed to make you smile?

My niece’s Bridal Shower, my appointment with the surgeon, and

Greta’s birthday.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I’m hoping that after I see the surgeon in the 6th of March, my surgery will be scheduled quickly. I get so nervous and I do not wait well.

The Oscars

Who watched the Oscar Awards on Sunday night?

I did and I thought it was the nastiest award show I have ever seen! There is a fine line between edgy humor and being down right mean! Seth MacFarlane was just plain mean!

From the opening act, to the bitter end, when he and Kristin Chenoweth sang the “Loser’s Song” I was truly shocked and horrified!

I wonder, who thinks this stuff is funny? If he was saying this stuff about me, I would be offended. I know my skin isn’t real thick, but do people anywhere have thick enough skin to withstand his assault.

Add to that the song about boobs. You know what, it is bad enough to endure commercials for incontinence products, but I do not want some jerk who has never had to harness a pair of boobs, singing about them!

The winners were not unexpected, and the gowns beautiful, if not costly (I think one could buy a house for the cost), and the Hollywood types once again patted themselves on the back.

Did you know that each Oscar nominee will receive an “Everybody Wins at the Oscars” gift basket, aka Swag Bag, worth just less than $48,000. They have to pay taxes on this “gift”, but that is chump change in Hollywood.

Perhaps Seth MacFarlane was right to diss them the way he did, but somehow I truly like most of the actors there and felt nothing but revulsion for his twisted humor.

What We Did This 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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Sunday morning found us waking to this!

It’s not that we minded the beauty of the snow, but both Hubby and I are sort of over the magic of the snow this year!

Looking out into the back yard we were amazed at the depth as well as the sheer awesomeness of the clinging snow!

The dackels loved going out and running through the snow. Anneliese especially! She just runs and jumps and plays! It made me laugh, which was nice!

Fritz was out and about patrolling the yard! He will stay with me, but gives Hubby and the snow blower a wide berth.

This is one of our peach trees that is just covered with the thick, heavy, snow!

Can you see the heart snow flake? That’s my neighbor’s home.

And last but not least, Hubby and his snow blower!

And it is still snowing!!!

Sun Burns

Saturday began with light snow. So much for the weather forecasters being right around here! As the morning wore on the snow stopped, so I grabbed my purse and out the door I went to get our mail. I called my mom and talked with her while I drove over and back.

My oldest girlfriend called and she needed my shoulder. We talked for over and hour and I hope I helped her just a little.

While we talked I was looking through old pictures taken long ago, when I got that really terrible sunburn. I’m pretty much convinced that burn is what has caused my current Squamous Cell skin cancer.

I was 13, and did not understand what the sun could do to skin. Looking back I can remember the pain I felt from that burn.

This is me with my brother in-law, Ron. He had a nice normal tan, while I was definitely overcooked!

burn 2

Here I am with the little boy I babysat for. You can see the blisters on my face. Raymond had nice normal skin.

burn 1

I had blisters all over my face. They eventually broke and my face was a mess for a while.

The point of this story is: Don’t lie out or do anything in the sun without a good hat and lots of sunscreen!

In fact I plan to buy stock in a couple of sunscreen companies! Talking to people I realized how common sun induced skin cancers are!

Scary!

Now the search is on for a good sun hat for this summer. I’d also love to buy one of those swim tops that has a built in sun shield.

Silver Linings Playbook

Hubby and I decided to go and see “Silver Linings Playbook” today. We knew the theme of the movie, and wanted to go and see if the movie lived up to the praise.

We were both blown away. You see the movie portrays Bipolar Illness as close as one can. The characters played by Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, were so true to life. Their madness and struggles tugged at the heart, and we were struggling, pulling for them, to find their way in this crazy world.

Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver played Cooper’s parents and their love and concern and craziness was heart wrenching.

Casting was great, as was the writing. I also liked the directing of the movie. It held you from the first frame of the movie, until the very last.

Hubby left, feeling a bit drained. It brought back many memories to him of years gone by.

For me, I could laugh, and shake my head yes, and understand the hurt and pain. You see, I have Bipolar Illness. I suffered for many years until a doctor found the correct medications for me.

It is something I have not spoken or written about until now. Those days, so long ago, were so painful. I am happy to have good medications, and a husband who has stood by me through it all.

I am blessed!

Friday Fill-Ins

1. Paisley is so pretty, but I have never really worn it.
2. I need to learn to wear my new Christmas hat so I can enjoy it.
3. Where is my energy? I really need to get our family room carpet shampooed with the new machine, but have no get up and go.
4. Life is so good and so wonderful that I don’t want it to end?
5. Sometimes, less is more.
6. I love Grey Poupon mustard.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to watching Gettysburg with Hubby, tomorrow my plans include cleaning and bleaching my counter-tops and Sunday, I want to read the newspaper, change the sheets, and if it is snowing, make a fire in the hearth and just stay home!

Thursday Thirteen

My new cordless Mouse arrived on Wednesday! I am so happy to have a mouse again.
We watched one of the funniest segments of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. He was in Greece trying the real food of the Greeks and got an introduction to both Ouzo and Raki!
Personally, I love Greek food, but some of this real Greek food, well I am not sure I could eat it.
In the last few days I have been in a cooking mood. So, the dinner meals have come out pretty well.
Tomorrow I am making Julia Childs Boeuf Bourguignon. I like to use a lot of vegetables, and I enjoy the savory smells.
In the next few days I need to catch up on laundry and some cleaning. So making the Boeuf Bourguignon will be nice for a couple of meals.
I also want to try to eat more fish meals, but I was so disappointed to learn that my favorite source of Haddock is no longer carrying the Norwegian Haddock.
That was simply the best Haddock!
Rumor has it we are going to get another 6 inches of snow this weekend. You know, I am really ready for spring!
My niece is getting married in just a few weeks. I am so excited! She is a sweetie and her fiancee is wonderful!
My sister has had so much fun helping Jinny plan the big event!
I’ll be going down for a bridal shower next month!
My sister’s oldest son and his wife are expecting twin boys! So much to be happy about!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. When were you last ‘on a mountaintop’? You may answer in the literal or figurative sense.

Last winter. I skied on Gunstock Mountain. It was very pretty.

2. Do you establish and maintain a strict budget in your household? What is one piece of financial advice you would offer someone just starting out on their own?

I always keep in my mind not to spend anything that I cannot pay off at the end of the month. You see I use plastic for almost all my bills and purchases. Then I get points. However, as I said, I always pay off my credit cards at the end of the month!

3. Cherries-yay or nay? Cherry pie, cherry cola, black forest cake, or a scoop of Ben and Jerry’s Cherries Garcia…pick one.

Cherries? Yay! We have three cherry trees in the yard and I love cherry season (early July!). I make Cherry Jelly and it is just the best!

4. Should you ever discuss religion or politics with people you don’t know?

I learned the hard way just not to discuss it at all. You see I did and the person I had the exchange with cut me out of their life completely, which has been hurtful, for reasons I can’t really discuss. I was labeled a bad person, which is odd because I never thought of myself like that. My advice, don’t discuss politics. You will make your greatest enemies and at times will lose people you care about.

5. When you take a road trip do you prefer to be the driver or the passenger? Where were you headed on your last road trip?

I prefer not to drive. However, I do drive when I must. My last road trip was down to see my Savannah Rose!

6. If we peeked inside your closet, what color would we say is most prevalent?

Probably blue. I have a lot of blue clothing, sweaters, etc. The other big color is black.

7. Who’s your favorite senior citizen and why are they special?

Well, Hubby. Officially he is a Senior Citizen, and I simply cannot imagine my world without him in it! He is the first person I want to speak with in the morning and the last person I want to talk to at night.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I got my stitches out on Tuesday. I got to really see where they had been. She took the biopsies on either side of the scar, sort of away from where the last cancer had been. I think the doctor probably thinks that the cancer cells have spread somewhat. So now I am thinking they will have to do some extensive removal and then I will have some reconstructive surgery. I’ve decided either I want my daughter’s cute little nose or perhaps Audrey Hepburn?

This & That

You know, I love my new parka. You remember, the one I got a couple of weeks back? We have had nothing but freezing temperatures, and winds that gust to 50+ miles an hour, and when I need to go out and walk the dogs, that parka is the only thing standing between me and becoming a giant icicle!

It’s a down parka you know. With a down filled hood, which keeps the wind from my sensitive ears!

For the first time in many, many, years I have not been getting cold when I am outside, and that is a miracle!

Sunday night when I went to bed, I lay there listening to the wind roaring outside. I hoped when I woke on Monday morning the wind would have died down, but that was not the case. We have at least one more day of it before the wind stops, and we get more SNOW!

I cannot complain about snow up here. Frankly, my sister who lives well south of me, has gotten so much more snow than I have. However, I am over snow this year and would really like an early spring.

How about you?

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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As wonderful as my Saturday was, I found my Sunday has been a little more unsettled and, well crazy.

It started early on with the roaring wind and bitter temperatures. We live at the south end of a lake and the wind just rolls out of the north and roars against our house. At one point on Sunday afternoon, the wind speed hit 51 MPH! It held for a moment before settling back into the 30 mph range.

My laptop mouse died. A few months ago, Hubby’s mouse died, so I gave him mine and ordered a new one. When it came we switched and today the old one died.

At first I just reordered that one again, but then I decided to get a cordless one too. Since they were very cheap, and had no shipping charge, I ordered both. At the rate we go through them an extra mouse is always welcome in this house!

Saturday night I cooked a lovely meal of scallops and asparagus! It was so good. Now how could I make a meal on Sunday to top that? I’m planning a nice steak and brussel sprouts.

Now back to the hectic part of the weekend. The dogs have all been so good lately, that I really should have suspected that they were planning something.

Today Greta took off and found some uncooked rotten lamb chops, and came in with it. I’m telling you it just plain stunk! I mean, really. Just think how horrible rotten meat smells! I have bathed her once, but I am afraid she may need more washing as I can still smell her! Ugh!

My weekend ended with a nice fire in the hearth and plans to watch some TV tonight. All in all, a good weekend, just a tad hectic!