Arrived

I arrived down here where my daughter lives and we went to dinner at a wonderful Italian restaurant. I had eggplant parmesan. Yum!

We leave tomorrow before 6 for Boston. I expect I will be one of the first cases of the day and I hope to be back to our hotel by early afternoon.

I brought toys for my grandkitties and they loved them. Especially the little tent I got for them. They have been racing in and out of it, and they just love the toys! So cool.

Well, time for me to get some sleep and then we are off to the city at dawn. I will try to post tomorrow.

21 Weeks

Our puppies are growing so quickly. Twenty-one weeks old today! Arnie at 14 3/4 pounds, is growing faster than 11 3/4 pound Anneliese, but she is more mature than her bigger brother. Greta is a bit jealous of all the attention that the puppies are getting and so I have spent a lot of extra time with her showing her love and affection.

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Greta’s photo courtesy of my cousin, Janet

I am noticing that their little noses are getting longer and they look more and more like grown up dachshunds. Anneliese really takes after Greta, and I think Arnie resembles his Dad. One thing is for sure, they are best friends.

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Fritz works very hard staying on everyone’s good side. He is a good boy. Tonight when I was taking a hot bath he came in and lay down on the bath rug next to the tub and kept me company.

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In so many ways, he is so wonderful that it makes me wonder why, he is such a monster when we try to take him in the car. This is the first dog that we have had with “car anxiety”.

I finished all the cleaning, laundry and packed my suitcase for the surgery. I spent most of the day doing this, but as I went about the house I couldn’t have thought of a better place to come back to after my right eye is fixed.

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Just think. Hubby, Fritz, Greta, Arnie and Anneliese will be waiting for me and I will be able to enjoy the beauty of spring in Central New Hampshire.

The Eyes Have It Again…

I’ve had a few people ask me what surgery I am having on Tuesday. Knee? Eye? Face-lift? LOL No to the knee and the face-lift, but yes to the eye surgery. This time, it is my right eye.

When I first met Dr. W. in Boston so she could examine my left eye, she gave me the news that I also had a cataract in my right eye. I knew eventually I would need surgery to remove that cataract and get a new lens. However, I was not ready to commit to that surgery until I knew for certain that the vision in my left eye could be restored.

As some of you recall, last August I had that surgery and it was a total success . Still I was a bit nervous about scheduling this surgery, but feeling the confidence in my doctor and that “Lady Luck” was on my side I went ahead and scheduled this operation.

The biggest difference between a “normal” cataract operation and mine is that I will have a much larger ridged lens placed in my eye and sewn into place. As with my left eye, these stitches will stay in for life. However, I will have near perfect vision when all is said and done, for the first time since I was 13 years old.

My daughter, Mandy is going with me to Boston, and Hubby is staying home with the fur children. I will worry about them all until I return, but I look forward to the time alone with Mandy. However, next time I want to spend some time alone with Mandy, I think we should just take a cruise!

Happy Birthday Hubby

Today is my darling Hubby’s birthday. So I wanted to wish him the best of birthdays, and the healthiest of years ahead. You have made my life full of so much happiness and wonder as we share our days. Thanks for being you!
Happy Birthday, honey!
(press volume button on video to start music)

‘I would rather have had one breath of his hair, one kiss from his mouth, one touch of his hand, than an eternity without it.”

Getting The Family Ready

I decided on Wednesday to get my household ready for my surgery. So after breakfast we hopped into the car and headed to civilization. You see we live out in the middle of nowhere, so that to buy any provisions means a 35 minute ride to stores.

The first stop was Agway where I bought the doggies their special cookies. You see Fritz will only eat Iams Diet Dog Cookies. This actually has a cute story behind it.

When Fritz came to our home, our Shubi was having health problems and could only eat the Iams Diet Dog Cookies. Fritzi seemed to like these better than the puppy cookies, so we just gave these to him too. Well here he is almost 4 years later and these are the only cookies he will eat!

I bought two big boxes of these cookies and then we headed to Wal-Mart to buy their canned food. I have always used Pedigree canned food for my dogs and they all really love it. I stocked up, and this should last for the next two or three weeks. I also got them their “Dingo Bones”. Now whoever invented these things obviously knew what they were doing, as all four dogs go crazy for these things. I’m not sure these will last the entire recovery time, but well, it is a start!

Then we headed to the grocery store where I was able to buy some TV Dinners for Hubby, which is sort of odd because the ones I bought today were actually for breakfast. Would you call them TV Breakfasts? I also have a bunch of easy freezer meals ready and I got a few things like those new crock pot meals so food shouldn’t be a problem.

Hubby took me out for lunch at a Chinese Buffet, and when the waiter asked how many seniors Hubby replied “One.” And then I added, “Yep one senior and one hot young chick!” The waiter smiled and I hope it was because he thought Hubby was lucky.

Upon arriving at home the dogs greeted us with their usual gusto and then once we put all the food away, we got a phone call that our Jeep was done at the shop and had passed inspection. Yippee.

Tomorrow we store the winter clothes in the attic and I work on more of preparing the family for my departure.

The funny thing is, they will probably be just fine and all my fussing and worrying will have been unnecessary. I just like to think I’m indispensable!

The Same & Yet So Different

The funniest thing about having two puppies from the same litter is watching their differences. Arnie and Anneliese are about as different as Fritz and Greta in their personalities. Where Anneliese is tiny, but fearless, Arnie is large and a bit of a chicken.

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Anneliese’s Photo courtesy of Janet

Case in point. Today I was vacuuming. You know, with the big rug beater attachment that sort of growls as it vacuums the rug? Well, Miss Anneliese chased after me barking and trying to bite the vacuum while Arnie ran into the puppy room and hid in the crate.

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Arnie’s Photo courtesy of Janet

Outside Anneliese will run after Fritz, any ball that is thrown and even try to get to our neighbor’s dog. (Which would be a terrible mistake!) Meanwhile Arnie will play quietly by himself, follows the others, but at a distance and is, let’s say, respectful of the other animals.

Arnie tends to be my little lover boy. He loves to climb up in your lap and snuggle down and go to sleep. Where Anneliese loves to sun worship in the day and then wiggle her way into my lap and push Arnie out at night.

Anneliese is still so tiny at 11 1/2 pounds, and Arnie is a big boyish 14 1/2 pounds! Anneliese is slight of frame while Arnie is built like a long tank. Arnie has longer fur while Anneliese has a shorter and a more coarse coat.

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I held these babies in my hands from the moment they were born. I gave each of them oxygen, and rubbed down their bodies as I dried them off. I tied their collars on, and watched over them in the first few weeks of their lives.

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Me with the pups on the birth day

Seeing the way they react to Hubby and me and each other, and Greta as well, fills me with such wonder. What a really great experience!

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Greta and Anneliese’s Photo courtesy of Janet

A Little Prep Work

I’ve started the final countdown. You know, where you spend time deep cleaning, arranging things and putting things away knowing that this is your last chance before an operation. I want the house to be ship shape, the closets relatively clean, and enough frozen meals so that Hubby doesn’t starve.

The “Puppy Nanny” is set to come in to help, I have shown her and Hubby how much food each dog gets, and explained the time table. Puppies eat twice a day, Greta and Fritz at 5 pm. Their crunchie bowls should always be full, as should their water dish.

I have set up the puppy pen out in the back yard so that when Hubby is working on his fruit trees he can put the pups in there and not worry that they will roam.

And the puppy room is now open a bit more with two crates for the babies. They were really interested in the big crate when I put it in there today, as this is the one I used with the 5 puppies when they were small. I wonder if it still smells like their siblings?

Tomorrow I do more laundry, a little ironing and some floor washing. I think by the time I have the surgery next week, I will be really exhausted and actually need a rest.