Is This A Healthy Dog?

Today I realized that the world had gone totally mad.

You see, I took Anneliese to our local, Board Certified Veterinarian for her Health Exam. Guess what? He’s not good enough to tell if Anneliese is a healthy dog. No, I had to go to a State Veterinarian to have Anneliese examed. Not only that, but my poor baby had to be treated for worms she doesn’t have, be microchipped, even though she already has a tattoo, and get treated for ticks, even though it’s not tick season.

You would think that this would be enough for the E.U., but no, they want more. Friday I must take Anneliese to a Ferderal Veterinarian so he can look at her fill out another paper, put his seal on it and send her off.

Now first of all I have to say that I take VERY good care of my dogs. My Vet knows them, gives them all injections and his license should be enough to give Anneliese traveling papers. It would have cost me $45.00.

But then I saw the State Veterinarian and had to get all those things done to the tune of $300.00 and I am actually afraid of what tomorrow will bring with the Federal Vet.

Something tells me that we have

TOO MUCH GOVERNMENT and TOO MANY REGULATIONS!!!!

Do you suppose that in this day and age when we average poeple are struggling with our finances and so is our government, that perhaps we need to cut some of these redundant governmental programs?

Just a thought.

After all, doesn’t this dog look healthy?

Jan 31 015

It’s Not Enough

I’ve been packing my suitcase. It’s the size that I can carry on along with Miss Anneliese. After spending several hours packing and repacking I have decided, it is simply not big enough!

In this day of baggage limits I find that a normal person cannot pack for a trip within the “rules”. I finally got out my packable space bags and put everything in those. Now I have my outfits in them with the hopes that they don’t pop mid-air. Should that occur, I’m totally screwed! Imagine the mess my 15 year old suitcase will be!

Yeah, my suitcase is 15 years old. It is also nothing very special either. One day I was in K-Mart and I saw this suitcase with a nice print on it. It cost me all of $12.99! And it has a handle and wheels, which after 15 years of being brutalized by travel, still work. I love this suitcase and when it finally falls apart, I will be extremely sad.

I also packed Anneliese’s little soft sided carrier. The back has a pocket for her things and I put in her little panties, her pads and some bones and crunchies. Now Arnie sits next to the bag looking longingly at the back pocket!

I took Anneliese to Weight Watchers on Wednesday. I wanted to desensitize her to large, noisy crowds. Well, she did just great! In fact she only barked once, never shook and seemed to enjoy the activity around her. Her little panties were a real hit!

Well, back to packing and organizing. Something I simply am not good at. Oh well, somehow we’ll make it over and hopefully so will my clothes.

Now The Fun Begins

I spent most of the day doing laundry, making appointments and confirming reservations for my trip to Berlin with Anneliese. I’ll be leaving on the 14th and getting back 2 weeks later.

The best part for me will be the time I get to spend with my friend, Uschi. It’s been nearly 5 years since we have seen each other and that is just too long!

I will be posting each day, so I can bring you all with me. I’m taking the new little camera that I bought Hubby for Christmas, and so far have found that I use it far more than he has. I just love my (his) little mini Cannon camera!

Besides making my travel plans today I was scheduled for a dental visit. I needed to have an old filling replaced. There were three things that depressed me about this. First, I hate going to the dentist. I get such anxiety attacks! And second, my mouth hurts like heck tonight after having the old filling drilled out and the new one put in. And lastly, I’m depressed because I am old enough to have a filling that actually needs to be replaced because it is old!

I came home and was all set to make dinner, but my rotisserie oven has bitten the dust! Shoot! I love that thing!

Then the ultimate, I couldn’t eat dinner because my mouth hurt!

Now I’ll spend the next few days finishing up the preparations for the journey. Anneliese goes in for her physical on Thursday and will be all cleared to go, I am sure.

Break out the suit cases!

This, That & Anneliese

I’ve been sort of quiet today after waking up with a silly old winter cold. You know, the kind that makes you have chills, sneeze a ton and feel all filled up. My answer to this was to stay in my pajamas until 10:30 this morning and then take the day off. I stayed in my chair reading things on the computer, cuddled with various dackels, and playing Scrabble.

I’ve also been watching and checking Anneliese for any sign that she is going into heat. I’m sure she is sick to death of me coming at her with a Kleenex to check her out! So far, nothing!

I have gotten all my documentation put together for Anneliese’s little rendezvous. And once she does go into heat, she must be taken in to our Veterinarian’s for an International Health Exam. They know all about it, and are on standby.

Tomorrow I will start setting aside clothes to pack for myself. I also have to go to the dentist to have a filling replaced.

Don’t even get me started on how much I detest going to the dentist. It’s a childhood thing. I just get completely unglued, even though I like my dentist and he is very gentle.

Fear not, gentle readers, I shall let you all know the moment Anneliese goes into heat. Then the fun begins.

We take Anneliese off to Germany to meet her husband!

Strange Sunday

I woke up Sunday morning, stumbled to the kitchen to turn on the coffee maker, and glanced at the thermometer. 40 Degrees!!!!! (F) Forty degrees? No, certainly I must still be asleep….I went back, rubbing the sleep from my eyes and looked again. Yes, 40 degrees. I almost fell over. I absolutely cannot remember the last day it was 40 degrees here.

I broke out my shorts, but thinking better of it, put them away and settled on a pair of unlined corduroys, and a light weight top, and when I went out later on to see my friend Tracey, I wore a light weight jacket!

Ah, how wonderful it is to have this warmth at the beginning of February!

Our town is full of fishing enthusiasts, as we were celebrating “The Ice Fishing Derby”. It’s an annual event, where crazy people, dress in several layers of clothes, cut a circular hole into the ice on the big lake, and fish. Some people bring their “Bob Houses” where every creature comfort can be found, be it a stove, a bed, TV or this year, a hot tub!

Click here to view a slide show of the Bob Houses.

As I drove with Arnie to my friend’s home, we saw all sorts of “manly” types walking down the street carrying buckets of bait, and coolers full of their favorite adult beverage.

I had a nice visit with Tracey and her three children, while Arnie played with her little pug dog. It had been far too long since I had spent time with her, and it was so nice to visit.

Arnie and I arrived home in time to make lunch and then work at vacuuming up Fritz hair. Here we are in the middle of the winter, and my shepherd is shedding like it is spring! The Ground Hog may have seen his shadow, indicating six more weeks of winter, but he forgot to tell Fritz!

As the day wore on, the wind picked up and a cold front moved through. We had both rain and snow, but nothing that really amounted to much. In the end, tonight we have the loveliest full moon and the clearest of skies.

Feb 8 005

Anneliese posed for me so I could show you all how much melting we had, as well as the beautiful moon!

Have a good week everyone!

Flowers

On Friday my blog friend Rude Cactus asked a question on his blog.

“The Weekly Hypothetical. You can go backward or forward in time – or just stay put in the present day – with a notebook and a pen to interview anyone for one hour. Who do you interview and what questions do you ask?”

I answered, ” I would go back to 1985 and I would interview my daughter Katie. I would ask her about what she thought about life, happiness and love. I know it wouldn’t be profound for anyone else but me, but oh those moments would mean so much!”

Posted by Maribeth at February 6, 2009 1:27 PM”

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I found out today that I had won a bouquet of the flowers of my choice. So I went over and selected this rose plant. We used to call Katie, Rose-bud as a nickname, so it seemed appropriate.

PLT6inpinkros_ltbskt08_l

Plus I figured that the plant would live for a long while reminding me of Katie and of my friend.

So, thank you Chris, for this. It means more to me than you can imagine. By saying what you did and by supporting me over the years, you help to honor my daughter.

Thanks!!!

Waiting…..

I spent part of Friday doing errands with Anneliese by my side. All I have to do now is ask her if she wants to go for a ride and she is at the door with her tail wagging!

I’ve been taking her along with me as I go around the town, to the Post Office, the Bank, etc. getting her ready for our trip. At first she was nervous and scared, but now she has developed self confidence and does very well.

So, we went around and did our errands before returning home. During our car trip I kept talking to her and encouraging her to go into heat! I have learned that Anneliese is a stubborn little Miss. She will go into heat when she feels like it!

I was looking at the calendar from the last two years and discovered that she goes into heat every 8 months. That is NOW!

So, I have my passport ready and will start thinking about the clothes I will pack for me. All I need for my girl is her cute little panties! I bet Isegrim will really fall for her when he sees those panties!!!

June 5 006

(This picture was taken during her last heat)

Don’t you think she looks cute?

Anneliese & Isegrim

Today was a pamper me day. I got my hair trimmed and my roots restored to their youthful honey brown, all the while my hands were massaged and my finger nails done. Ah yes, true wonderful pampering!

I think everyone needs pampering. I mean lets face it, everywhere you go, everyone you meet can tell you a story of someone they know who is going through a hard time, or knows someone who is.

So it’s imperative to just step back and get a little pampering once in a while, and today was my day.

Now I am set totally for my trip to Berlin! Anneliese can finally stop wasting time and just go into heat. I’m ready. I look fabulous and I’m ready to take on Germany!

I also am so excited about seeing Uschi and spending some time with her. It’s been nearly 5 years since we have been together. It’s time!!!

I’m not really looking forward to traveling alone with Anneliese, but then, Hubby needs to be here to be with our other three dogs and to take care of himself. I’ve been cooking up a storm making meals for him so he doesn’t have to go out for dinner too many times while I am away.

Anneliese 4

Anneliese

So let me tell you. I have found a handsome husband for Anneliese named Isegrim. You can go here to see him at The site of the Vom Bruchsee Kennel.

He is really a handsome boy, (On the side bar of the Vom Bruchsee Kennel click on Deckrüden and you will see a nice face picture of Isegrim) and I am so excited about this mating. I think the pups will be fantastic!

Let’s just hope that Anneliese will be a nice girl and falls hopelessly in love with Isegrim!