The Dackel Princess

We went grocery shopping. Of course. Isn’t that what people do in a blizzard?
Hubby figured that no one would be out driving around and shopping. This was somewhat true. The grocery store was empty, but Walmart was packed!
Hubby is a great driver in snow. We went to the market first and got our groceries. Since I had Hubby with me to ‘help’, he pushed the wagon out to the car.

I stopped and looked the wreaths, but I just didn’t want all the wet in the car. It was bad enough that Hubby and I got the floor of the car all wet.

Then we were on to Walmart. It was snowing so heavily then and yet, I was amazed at the number of people out shopping. Doesn’t anyone stay home in a blizzard anymore??

Driving home was a trip. It was snowing hard, people were driving crazy and I was a tad nervous. As I said, Hubby is an excellent driver in the snow, but some of those other maniacs really scared the heck out of me!
When we got home I had the thrill of watching Greta out in the snow. She just loves it there!

It’s snowing her already. It’s 5:45 AM and Shubi had me up twice in the night. I’m supposed to go skiing this morning before it gets too bad out there, but we will just have to see what Hubby says when he gets up in about an hour.
I want to go skiing, but I hate to leave Shubi if she isn’t feeling well.
Procrastination is my middle name!

Oh I just love to shop. Today was a good day too! I got to visit, “The LL Bean Outlet“!!! Now you are probably wondering what I could possibly need from there, but today I found great deals, and some pretty, new, clothes to add to my closet.

First was this cute, practical, blue wind breaker. It’s a summer jacket, I know, but at $4.99 I couldn’t say no. I don’t happen to own one like this, so I did in fact need it.
Next,

I’d seen breed specific baseball hats and I wanted the dachshund one! They had it today at 1/2 price! So I got that.
Lastly,

This is the Kingfield sweater, all wool, and it was also 1/2 price! I loved this color and thought it looked good and bright and cheery on me.
So it was a really fun day, doing something I love! Shopping!!!

Today dawned, bright, beautiful and extremely cold (16 degrees here and 5 at the top of the mountain!) and windy! “Of course”, I told Hubby, “because today is the first day on the ski slopes for me!”
So I got out the super-dooper long underwear, turtleneck, insulated ski pants, sweater and the new down LL Bean ski parka I bought over the summer that was guaranteed to keep me warm. Which it did! The ski pants were just a tad snug. (Can you say Hold Your Breath?) So I brought a bag with ’emergency pants’ with me “just in case” I split the seams! A few more pounds down and these pants will fit just fine. Meanwhile, I live on the edge!
I made a picnic breakfast to eat on the way to Waterville Valley. Coffee, juice, boiled eggs, cheese and a steak sandwich for Hubby. The roads were clear and when we arrived at the resort I think there were 5 other cars there. We got all bundled up, adjusted our goggles and gloves and headed out.

I’m always a little nervous my first run of the season, but it’s sort of like riding a bicycle. You don’t forget how. So down we came. Back on the ski lift and I swear the wind had picked up. it was a mere 5 degrees on top of the mountain with 30 mile an hour gusts of wind!
At one point we were coming through an area where they are making snow, while on the lift and both of us had our goggles iced! This required a moment in the Schwendi Hutte to defrost them. Then we were back out on the slopes.

After a few more runs we stopped for a HOT cup of coffee at the Schwendi Hutte. I kicked off my ski boots, sat by the window in the sun and soaked up the warmth. I felt like a cat who wanted nothing more then to curl up on the little sofa there and go to sleep!
Alas, that was not to be. I was up and dressed and out we went after the coffee for two more runs before we quit for the day.
Now to answer some questions.
Did I fall? No. I didn’t fall. I actually felt relaxed and good on the skis.
Am I completely exhausted and sore? No. I feel a little tired, but not bad. I imagine tomorrow I will be a little sore.
Did I freeze? Just a little. The new jacket was great, but my toes, fingers and cheeks all felt the nip of the wind chill.

What did I ever do before LL Bean? I was getting out my ski gear this morning, and I noticed one thing. Nearly everything I have as far as casual wear is LL Bean. My ski jacket, new this year, is from LL Bean. My after ski boots, LL Bean. Socks, hat, Turtlenecks, etc. Yep. LL Bean.
Now how did I get into this LL Bean rut? 18 years ago I needed clothes. I was newly divorced, and hadn’t gotten a new piece of clothing since High School. Suddenly, I was out there in the working world, and needed clothes for that and well, after 10 years, lets face it, my clothes were falling apart.
A Friend, (and as it turned out, Hubby #2) took me to Freeport Maine to “The Mother Store“! I had a little money in my pocket, my first credit card, and a way to pay the bill when it came, and walking into LL Bean was like a “Country Girl’s Heaven“!!
I tried on one thing after another and tossed things into a cart. Sweaters, skirts, pants, jackets, etc. And at the end of the day Friend (Hubby) said, “So what are you buying and what are you putting back?” I bought it all. I spent a couple hundred dollars. He was shocked and teased me like crazy. But you know what? 18 years later, I have all the stuff I bought and the timelessness of the styles means I still wear it all the time, and the quality means it still looks brand new!
I still shop LL Bean. Online, at the Outlet stores, wherever, and whenever I can. There are days I am literally a walking advertisement for them.
I like to call it New England Chic.

Okay like everyone else, I’m putting up a map to see where y’all are. Please go to my site
My Frapper
Thanks!

It’s been a week since I started back on South Beach. I haven’t cheated once. Many of you will say this is incredible, since we are in the holiday season, but I look at South Beach as the way I should eat all the time. It’s a way for carboholics like me to live without ‘love handles‘!
In any case, today was weigh-in day. You always hope for a big first week, because after that it just sort of comes off a half a pound here or there, but nothing spectacular, if you know what I mean? So with great trepidation I stepped on the scale at 7 this morning, naked as the day I was born, save for the socks I wear at all times. I’d lost 5 pounds! Yahoo!!!
Shubi has been a sick little munchkin since yesterday. I’m not sure if it a reaction to the anesthesia or what, but she has been throwing up like crazy and not eating. I was up 4 times in the night with my puking princess. This morning I got out the baby rice cereal and mixed that with warm water and made it very watery. She slurped down some of that and I’ll keep giving that to her to get her rehydrated. This is what I did when she was on chemo and had the occasional bad tummy.
Hubby has gone off skiing. He is really into getting himself back into shape. I’m afraid his knees aren’t cooperating, and at the end of this ski season he will need another knee replacement. But God bless him for getting out there and working on himself, something I will be doing quite shortly.
I’m finally starting to feel better from this sore throat thing. Thank goodness. It certainly has taken forever! But I’m hardly coughing and the throat itself is hardly sore at all. Best of all, I’m getting my energy back!
I wish the spammers would leave Princess alone! Y’all would not believe the amount of spam hitting this site! I may have to do something drastic. It’s getting really crazy.
And how was your weekend??

We’ve been working most of the day on “The Christmas Letter” You know, the thing you send out to people each year telling them what you’ve been doing and now in the great age of computers, putting your pictures into the letter as well? We’ve managed to agree on what we did during the year, and after some minor squabbles, we have agreed on the pictures we will use in the letter. (The naked picture of me sunbathing, will be saved once again from the letter and blinding those we love!)
While Hubby, who is an English junkie, was correcting the letter, I did what I do the very best. I went out shopping. I wanted to finish my shopping for my BFF in Germany so I can mail her packages tomorrow. Mission accomplished, Not only did I find what I wanted, everything is wrapped and will be mailed in the morning.
Then I was sort of looking around and I found something more for my cousin, Janet. I’d already shopped for her, but when I saw this, I knew I had to get it for her. It was perfect.
I think the thing is about my Christmas shopping now, is that I don’t buy crap. I buy things I think people can either use or will like. I saw people today throwing all this junk into their shopping carts in Walmart and TJ Maxx and I thought, “Wow, you know no one ever uses that crap. They put it away and then the next time they move, they have to pack it up and move it to their next house.”
After seeing what my parents had when they sold their place and went into a senior apartment, I wanted to gag! I promised my sister never to buy her another Chia Pet (Ha! I never did, but you know what I mean) or anything else that was just plain junk. And so it goes.
Now that Hubby is done with the English part of the letter, I need to finish up my art work. Nothing wonderful, a few Santa’s here, a Christmas tree there, you know…
It’s all in a days work!