Ruby’s got a boyfriend!

Our friend, Brett, has a wonderful Rat Terrier named JJ.  JJ is the whole reason we have our beautiful Ruby Tuesday.  Greg met JJ and decided there was something wonderful in this breed.  And, thus we began our search and ended up with Ruby.  So, when Brett asked us to watch JJ for a weekend, we didn’t hesitate.  We happily took on the task.

He’s a handsome lad, don’t you think?  Similar to Ruby; but unique unto himself.

I love seeing them together.  He is larger than Ruby

They play and play and play.  Sprinting around the house, chasing, growling, barking, and sprinting some more.  So delightful!

We’ve only got JJ until today but Ruby has had a grand old time.  And probably get more exercise than she normally gets in a month!

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Ruby Tuesday: 5:30am

Ruby Tuesday – the worst day of the year

Poor Ruby.  Today, the kids and I go back to school.  It’s the worst day of the year for her.  Most of her pack is gone for most of the day.  Poor dogger.  I suspect she’ll be watching for us most of the day.    (Don’t worry . . . I’ll fill the bird feeders and that’ll keep her busy chasing the squirrels away!)

Ruby Tuesday – Camping Dawg

Ruby gets a light in her eyes when we are camping.  She is at once calm and alert.  She is watchful and patient and more aware of her surroundings — particularly if they include rodents or the like.

She leaps and climbs and runs with grace and agility not used in her run-of-the-mill daily life.

Small she may be but she is a hunter, too.  Thankfully, the wild animals have to contend with better hunters than she is.  They are ready for coyotes and foxes and hawks and eagles and a small dog doesn’t really stand a chance, no matter how determined she is.

When you are at altitude, it is important to get enough to drink.  We had a cooler full of water with us at all times and made sure that Ruby got her fair share as well.

When we camp, Ruby sleeps curled up next to me under the covers. She gets cold at night and she likes to snuggle in and borrow my warmth.  Even in June at 7,600 feet of elevation, nights are chilly.  46F was common.  So, we all were happy for a little extra warmth.

We always knew we wanted to camp with a dog along with us.  We just didn’t know that our camping dog would be a 12 pound Rat Terrier with attitude!

When worlds collide . . .

The ModDog's Twitter Collar

But, Mama, I need this pretty new collar!  Oh please!  Oh please!  Oh please!  Oh please!  Oh please!

Could you just die?  Look at that beautiful collar with the birdies and . . .
. . .  think of how lovely it would look on my beautiful dog.

Birds and dogs . . . maybe we all can just get along!

ps.  I know this would be Ruby Thursday but let’s just pretend, okay?

Ruby Tuesday – Kindle Watch

Ruby will be on Kindle 2 Watch today.  It helps that the UPS guy gives her a dog biscuit everytime he sees here.  He’s so good that if no one is home, he leaves it on the package for her.  She LOVES our UPS guy!

So, it shipped yesterday (2/23).  I paid for overnight shipping.  And yet, the delivery info still says that I can expect it on the 25th.  And while math has never been my strongest subject, I’m pretty sure that 23 + 1 = 24 not 25.  But, while I can tell from the package tracking that it left Memphis at 12:08 this AM, it is still destined to arrive tomorrow.  Somehow I’ll survive the wait.

Here is what I’ve already ordered for my Kindle.   So that I have something to read right away.  Thankfully, Amazon has a nice long list of free books available.  I haven’t even started scratching the surface of the free public domain books.  Anyway, I’m very excited . . .

• Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn (first in the series, sounds interesting)
• Once a Cowboy by Linda Warren (free romance)
• Baby Bonanza by Maureen Child (free romance)
• Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn (free offering in the Silent in the . . . series)
• Kindle user’s guide by Amazon.com
• Dragonheart: Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern by Todd J. Mccaffrey (Lifelong McCaffrey fan — I’d read the Pernese phone book if they had phones . . . or books, for that matter)
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean (I’ve been SO excited about reading this . . . it’s my real Kindle treat!)
• The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury (Saw a made-for-tv movie on this book.  It was intriguing enough to know that the book would be better so . . . trying it out)

But, how will I wait?  Tapping my fingers anxiously, no doubt.  I’ve actually given Greg permission to unbox the Kindle (unheard of for me . . . I don’t even like it when someone reads a magazine before I get a chance to open it myself first).  But, it has to be charged up and I don’t want to waste time waiting for that first charge when I get home.

Greg suggested that I pre-organize my lessons for my classes so that I can have time to play with the Kindle.  Really though, it’s the blogging that I should pre-organize.  🙂 But, should I disappear off the face of the blogosphere for a few days, well, now you know why!

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Update! The Kindle Has Landed!  Greg emailed me that “We have Kindleage!”  He opened the box and charged her up for me.  I can hardly wait to go home.  Oh, and for all my ranting about Ruby loving the UPS guy . . . uhm, FedEx delivered it!  🙂

Ruby Tuesday – Could she be any cuter?

Playing with a new toy

I am a serious, life-long Mac user. I bought my first Mac computer when I was in college. Back when Mac was starting out, you could go to the computer store and “test drive” one for a few days. I was sold and it paid off, too. My senior year in college, I took the most units I’d ever attempted and made Dean’s List for the first time ever as well. So, yeah, that’s pretty awesome stuff there in that box. Loved it. My computing life has been filled with a series of Macs ever since. And most everyone I know is touched by this love of the Mac. It’s good stuff.

So, it should be no surprise to know that I use iPhoto for most of my photo storage, organization (ha!), and even photo editing. I love me some iPhoto. iPhoto is part of a suite of applications called iLife. And a new version was just released. iLife ’09. I ordered it up based solely one ONE feature.

iPhoto recognizes faces in your photos and helps you to organize them. Hot diggity dog!

So, when it came on Tuesday, I wasted no time installing it and starting to play. But, it had to go through all my pics and catalog them a process which took — according to iPhoto more than 600 minutes. I left it running while I was at work yesterday. Yes, I did.

So, last night I was playing. Going through pics and telling iPhoto who each face was. It then makes a catalog of the faces and suggests other pictures that might have that face in it. Once it gets a baseline on each person, it starts to suggest on each picture “Is this Ruth?” Sometimes it’s right. Sometimes it’s off. But, it’s fun, that’s for sure!

As I was doing this, I’d run into a photo or 10 of Ruby and wonder . . . hmmmmm.

My husband, meanwhile, was playing with other parts of the software (we bought a Family Pack) and sent me an article with 20 helpful hints [click] on using iLife ’09.  The authors were able to get their computer to recognize their cats’ faces.  Game on.

So, I’m working on the computer recognizing Ruby.  So far it’s not working on it’s own but I feel we’re still in the training phase.  And, let’s face it.  I take way more shots of Ruby than my kids.

But what I’m wondering is . . . will it recognize birds’ faces, too?

Ruby, inspired by Aretha

Ruby was inspired by Aretha Franklin’s sartorial spleandor.  She is now never seen without her “Aretha” hat.  It’s lovely and seems to inspire great fear in the local squirrel population.

For more Aretha-inspired photos, visit this Flickr group.

Taking on mountains

I have been reading a new blog recently, HipWriterMama shares about her writing but also looks to motivate her readers.  [click]  Today, she is sharing inspiration for accomplishing big tasks.  In general, I need this sort of inspiration.  I am naturally sluggish and would prefer to plant my behind on the couch with my laptop in my lap and just chill.  Being a mother and a teacher means that I don’t get a lot of “chill” time . . . leastwise not as much as I’d like.

But, I have responsibilities beyond mothering and teaching.  I am also a homeowner and I need to maintain my home.  I’ve gotten the daily job of dishes down but others get put off and become mountains of laundry and soap scum and . . . well, let’s not think too hard about the state of my toilets, shall we?

Beyond that, I have ambitions.  I want to be a writer.  And, I know I can do it . . . if I work at it.  As most of you know, I took up the challenge of NaNoWriMo to write a novel in a month.  I didn’t accomplish it but I did get 30,000 words written which is way better than a kick in the head (a phrase my son does not understand at all!).  I allowed myself a break after that huge effort and . . . there we are.  Still on break.  Not a single word written in a month.

So, I have a few mountains.  I need to tackle my laundry and bathroom mountains before the new year so that I can start the new year not feeling behind already.  And, I need to tackle my novel again.  Dive in and get to work on it.  I want to finish my rough draft this week.  Can I do it?

Of course I can.  I particularly like that writing my novel involves planting my butt on my couch with my laptop in my lap looking like I’m chilling.  Of course, the beads of sweat on my brow will give me away to the careful observer.

What are your mountains that need tackling?

Clearly, Ruby has some serious napping to do.