Category: Life

It’s been a full day. I decided to get all my heavy work done this morning, and then watch some video’s this afternoon.
After breakfast, I cleaned the house, gathering all the trash, newspapers, bottles and boxes to bring over to the recycling center. I loaded up the Jeep and off I went.
I was a bit nervous about going, as last time, if you recall I was faced with Mr. Meanman, who yelled at me for leaving the inside insert in the cardboard wine box.
Once again I was the only woman at the recycling center. I pulled up and tossed my burnable trash, disposed of my glass bottles, and then went to the next building where just about everything else is left. I brought in the plastic bottles, the tin cans and the newspapers. Then as I was bringing in the cardboard, I saw him. Mr. Meanman! I tossed my cardboard onto the pile and went back to get another load. That’s when I saw him going over and checking the wine boxes! Ha! This week I had remembered to remove the insides, and he had nothing to yell at me for!
I came home with a spring in my step and a smile on my face!
I chopped vegetables for Jack’s favorite comfort food. It’s called “Scrambled meat” (see recipe below).
After lunch I put on a CD of:

My cousin Janet gave me the entire series for my birthday last year! It is such a funny BBC show with Dawn French, and a cast of characters that’ll make you smile. What a great way to spend an afternoon! Thanks J!

I woke up at 3 because I was so worried about Hubby. His temperature has been high, the knee very swollen, indicating an infection in the knee. It is not unheard of, but absolutely not a good or easy thing to get rid of. He talks of feeling very weak, which I know is due to the fever and to the fact that he isn’t eating too well (me either). A call to his surgeon may be in order today.

The two dogs seem to be in tune with Hubby and spend a lot of time watching over him. It’s really sweet to watch this love for their Dad.

I need to get the drop clothes out and cover the chairs, the sofa and the table in the family room. I’ve moved every thing else out of the room to avoid getting the mortar dust all over every thing when they are demolishing the fire place front today. Yes, on top of everything else, I will have jack hammers blasting away in my home a good portion of the day.

Greta is over her heat! Yahoo! No more panties for my little Princess! This also means I can let her out in the rain to do her business without escorting her. Praise the Lord!

I think it’s time to put the coffee on.

exhaustion:
1 See Maribeth:

A noun
2 exhaustion
the act of exhausting something entirely
╚action
╚change
╚change of magnitude
╚decrease; diminution; reduction; step-down
╚depletion
╚exhaustion
3 debilitation, enervation, enfeeblement, exhaustion
serious weakening and loss of energy
event
╚happening; occurrence; natural event
╚change; alteration; modification
╚transformation; transmutation; shift
╚weakening
╚debilitation, enervation, enfeeblement, exhaustion
4 exhaustion
extreme fatigue
state
╚fatigue; weariness; tiredness
╚exhaustion
╚mental exhaustion; brain-fag
╚frazzle
╚inanition

Hubby had all his pre-operative testing and the visit with the surgeon today. Everything went well, but I am not sure I liked what the doctor had to say. Between the cysts growing on the bones and a hairline fracture too, I didn’t feel really good after. Not that I don’t like the doctor, I do. I just worry about my Hubby!

We stopped at the motel I will be staying at and I was able to check out the place. Bed, Internet access and a Continental Breakfast each morning. What more could a girl want?

It was a big day here at The Dackel Princess Home. The oven got fixed, bills got paid, I selected a pair of glasses and I went to the LL Bean Outlet store and found a King Size Bedspread in pale blue. Now the best part about the bedspread was that, it is usually a hundred dollars and I talked the sales girl down to $50.00. Here is the deal. It was already marked down some because it was a clearance item. The item was not bagged and had been on the floor. Obviously it will need to be washed before use. So, we played, “Let’s Make A Deal” and that was the end result!
Here is a picture of the spread. I got the lightest blue one.

My new glasses will be here in about 2 weeks. I selected a pair of wire frames that are tinted a fleshy pink color. They almost fade away on my face. I also got them with the anti-glare filter on the lenses. Because I must wear glasses all the time, I decided to order a pair of sun glasses. Woo-hoo! I used my old glasses (the Harry Potter Frames), and they will have the new prescription with a polarized dark brown tint. I’m psyched!

We see the Orthopedic Surgeon for Hubby’s pre-operative appointment. He will tell us all that he plans to do, And we will make the final arrangements with both the hospital and the motel I will stay at.

After a few days of walking my little panty princess, I must say I am really ready for spring! Every time Greta has to go out, I leash her, and out we go. It has been in the single digits each morning and hasn’t gotten over 20 degrees during the day! Brrrr!
Come on Springtime!!!

Have you ever taken stock of what you have in your cupboards, closets, or attic? Recently I started looking and I realized I had so much stuff that I do not use at all. It’s perfectly good. There are sets of dishes, silverware, glasses, casserole dishes, etc. Years of accumulation, plus the death of Hubby’s folks and absorbing their stuff too, made my collection way too big!
Hubby said, “Have a yard sale. Sell it on Ebay.”
That sounds good, but it means schlepping it all out, pricing it, setting up on the lawn, perhaps on a nice cold rainy day, (I know that this would happen, because, well, it’s me we’re talking about!).
I had a better idea.
My daughter just bought her own place. Her best friend is married and in her own home. They are young and starting out in life. Yep, you guessed it. I called them up, and asked them to come up for a “Treasure Hunt“!
They arrived at lunch, and once I fed them (a small bribe so they would take more of the stuff!), we went down and started sifting through boxes.
Before they knew what hit them, I’d gotten the entire back of the Subaru filled with boxes! I was just giddy with delight! They helped me decide to send several other boxes off to the Recycling Center (I just hope that jerky guy isn’t there to yell at me), and what to actually throw out. All in all, it was a very constructive day.
I made Hubby a pot of Lamb Paprikash and then jumped into my pajamas to relax. I think I hear the sound of a tea kettle calling my name! Hmmmmmm.

I was doing my wifely duties today. This means I was doing a job that was formerly Hubby’s, but due to his infirmities, I am now doing. I was doing the dump run. Here in New Hampshire we have a “recycling center”. We employ DPW guys to manage the facility and help sort things out when there is a question. Mostly this is a pain free job, and I do it, not because I love to do it, but because it must be done.
Today I went over to the recycling center with a Jeep load of trash, plastic bottles, cardboard and newspapers. I was doing my part.
I managed to get all the cardboard over to the cardboard pile, when in a very loud voice one of the workers says, “Lady, you can’t do this!”
I went back and looked at the cardboard. “Do what?” I asked, innocently.
“These wine boxes.” (what can I say, Hubby is a cheap date!) “You have to pull the insides out of each box before you put them here!”
I could see all the other recycler’s looking at me. I felt small and stupid and like a giant spotlight was on me.
“Oh, what do I do with the insert?” I asked feebly “Should I put those in the burnables?” (I was trying so hard to look like I fit in by using recycling lingo.
“Just put them in the trash.” he grumbled.
I quickly finished my sorting, and then I jumped in the Jeep and got out of there quickly. How was I to know? Did he really have to be so gruff, loud and angry with me? I felt near to tears. I drove home and took it out on the only person I could. Hubby. After all it was his stupid wine boxes that caused all the trouble. I don’t even drink!
A little while later, I got groused at again, and I felt like crying. I know people have bad days, but I guess I am just feeling overly sensitive right now.
It is snowing hard and looking more and more like shoveling will be needed later this afternoon.
What else can happen today?

Yesterday I discovered that the hospital Hubby will have surgery at has a program where you can stay at an area motel at a drastically discounted rate. We called and made reservations there for me, and the pups. They are dog friendly. This means I won’t be driving 2 1/2 hours each day to be with Hubby after surgery. I am so relieved. I want to be with him after this operation. I remember what it was like for him the last time, and I know I did a lot to help with his care.
We are due for 5-7 inches of snow today. I am not happy. They say it will be light fluffy snow, and easy to shovel. Easy for who? Oh well, what do I expect, anyway? It’s February, it’s New England and into every life, a little snow must fall!
I was looking at the calendar. Yes, I often do this. I was looking into the future to when Greta will have her next heat, and then forward to when she would actually deliver puppies. I was surprised to see that the puppies would come right around the time that would have been Shubi’s birthday! I think this is a good omen.
I went shopping for salad fixings and there in the butcher’s meat case was a leg of lamb, on sale! I love lamb, and have had a hankering for it, but the prices were so high I simply wouldn’t spend the money on it. Yesterday, however, the price was right! So tonight we will have roasted lamb with asparagus! Yum!
I suppose I should get the shovels ready and put my boots by the door (heavy sigh).

Today I was evaluated by a Corneal Surgeon, Dr. M. for problems in my left eye from an improperly fitted lens implant. I knew, way back when I had the cataract removed in 2001 that the implant was wrong. I tried to get them all to listen to me, and they didn’t. The result was a botched attempt with a laser to solve this problem, and then, of course, the detached retina. The doctor indicated today, that had they gone right back in and replaced the lens in 2001 then the entire series of misadventures with this eye would have been avoided. Of course the question now is, what to do? Trust me, it does not make you feel particularly confident when the doctor examining you spends much of the appointment basically scratching his head. This seems to be beyond what he can fathom.
He wants me to use these drops to constrict the pupil, in hopes that this will alleviate the symptoms I have. I did try these in the past, and they gave me a terrible headache and brow ache. So, I am not terribly thrilled about trying this again. Meanwhile he wants to conference with Dr. C. (My Retinal Surgeon) and find out all he can about my eye. After all, no one knows my left eye, inside and out, like Dr. C.
What we do know now is that replacing the lens would be difficult, perhaps even dangerous. How much of a risk, he couldn’t say. Or wouldn’t say. Not until he speaks with Dr. C.

On our way home, (which is a 55 mile drive) it was snowing like crazy! The roads were not in the best shape either. Hubby was driving, and so I could relax. As we neared a little town, we observed a driver, who had gone off the road, pulling back on the road again. I mentioned to Hubby that the guy wasn’t sitting correctly in his car. He was sort of slumped over to one side. Anyway, his driving was really bad. We followed him all the way across the state. As we neared our hometown, the guy dropped a front tire off the main part of the road and then went right off, smashing into a mailbox and roadside newspaper box! We were just so grateful that he didn’t spin out and into us! We saw that aside from the murdered mailbox, he was fine, so we kept on going.
The rest of the trip was uneventful and we arrived home safe and sound.

I looked at the calendar when we got back home and realized that in one week, Hubby goes for his pre-op visit with his Orthopedic Surgeon, Dr. F., and then a week later, he has the operation!
Time does not sit still, does it?

Do you ever wonder if you were truly related to your parents? I ask myself this question all the time. In fact my sister and I would like to ask for a DNA test. We are that sure that they aren’t our real parents!
First of all, they are nothing like us. Mel and I are fairly happy people, who love their kids and families and actually enjoy doing things for other people. We also are never too busy to listen to another person or help them through a rough patch.
So, I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when they called to offer (their form) of sympathy for my loss of Shubi. The call went something like this between my mother and me.

Mom: It’s too bad about Shubi.
Me: Yes. I feel pretty bad
Mom: I’ve been feeling pretty sick lately. Today I had a bad blood sugar attack because I forgot to eat lunch. And you know me I never forget to eat lunch.
Me: You shouldn’t do that.
Mom: Well, I was so sleepy. I don’t know why, I slept until 9 and then I fell back asleep until your father woke me up. And he is sick too. Stomach problems. (She told me more but I will not gross you out. It was bad enough that I had to listen!)
Me: Oh that’s too bad.
Mom: I was worried we wouldn’t be able to go to the dinner at church, but it looks like we will make it. I think it will be a lot of fun.
Me: That’s good.
Mom: What’s all that noise?
Me: Greta needs to go out.
Mom: I had a nice dog one time. Baby was a good dog.
Me: Yes, she was, but Shubi was very special to me.
Mom: My dog was special.
Me: Yes, well, Greta needs to go out so I’ve got to go.

Why do I expect that she will ever be able to offer any sort of loving support when I am grieving? Why do I even hope that maybe she can see a world that does not revolve around her? It always has to be about her. Her needs, her sicknesses, her life. Is it that she is truly incapable of seeing her own child’s pain?
Yep. I want that DNA test!