Ruby Lee

I thought 529 pictures over 4 days at Disney was a lot. It's a good thing they don't have puppies running around that place or I would have probably taken thousands. Over 2 days spent with my Mom's new puppy I took a quick 220. But let me show you how completely adorable she is and you'll see why.

Ruby is a full-bred German Shepherd, and in these shots she is about 10 weeks old.







See? Have you ever seen a cuter puppy?




One of the other reasons I took a lot of shots was because she is so small now compared to how big she is going to be, and I wanted to document plenty of proof of her current tiny state. Basically anytime she was next to something that she will someday be larger than, I took a picture.
















She's growing quickly, so I fully expect her to be about 3 times this size when I next see her in June. But I think it may take a whole year for her to grow into her enormous paws and ears.

Safari

In the 5 days that I was at Disneyworld a couple of weeks ago I took 529 pictures. It didn't seem like I was constantly taking pictures, although I was conscious of trying to take more than I usually do. I guess I succeeded.



My favorites are from my favorite ride.





The African safari at Animal Kingdom.









(That's a lion napping there behind the grass.)

I was looking through my pictures tonight because a friend asked me to send her this one:



I barely saw any children on leashes all week. And this was certainly the only one that was tied to something.

Life is Filled with Wonder and Surprise

This was the coffee cup I chose this morning.



Life is filled with wonder and surprise

It's really really old and beat up, and I have no idea where it came from. But I like it.

From Mommy to Mom

The older you get, the less you like birthdays.



Not just your own.



And not just because you aren't allowed to cover yourself in cake.



Because they are reminders of time speeding by you.



Today my only baby is 11. She's growing up.



I've realized something in the last few weeks. Is it possible that I'm in the midst of the subtle transition from being called "Mommy" and nothing else to being called just plain "Mom" ?



Not just in public, this being called Mom nonsense, but at home too? I want to be Mommy just a little while longer.



She's only 11. This has gone WAY too fast, couldn't I rewind a few years?



I'm going to try not to think about it. Maybe those last few times I just didn't hear her correctly. I hope she knows I'll always be her Mommy, not just her Mom.



But after her unbelievable report card (wherein her teacher calls her an "all around amazing young lady" ) I guess I may need to accept it. She is growing up.



Happy Birthday, Ali. Now knock off this growing like a weed thing. And remember that you will always be my baby.

Best Twitpic of 2009

I have been trying to find the time to post at least one more time in 2009 (to add to the measly quantity of posts I've had all year), and since I don't have the energy to do a full-length "Best of 2009..." post, I was looking through some pictures from 2009, specifically ones I've shared on Twitter via Twitpic.



I thought I'd used Twitpic more than I did, so this was the best I could come up with. It's from our trip to Martha's Vineyard in July. This place serves the best fried clams. One order is enough to fill you up all day. We did read that it is allegedly one of Bill Clinton's favorite places to eat on the island, so we had to check it out.

Snow = Food

Looking outside, it doesn't seem like yesterday's blizzard delivered quite the amount of snowfall that was originally forecasted for us. It would have only taken a couple of inches for me to happily declare myself snowed in, though.

That makes this a great weekend to follow my first order from the Lehigh Valley Food Coop. This was from my Thursday order, which turned out to be more than I thought.



Potatoes, sweet potatoes, lemons, pears...



Spinach, carrots, apple butter...



Yes, that is a carrot next to the apple butter. Short, fat, funky looking carrots. Word is that they are super sweet. I can't wait to try them.



Brown eggs, which Ali can't wait to try simply because she's always wanted to try a brown egg. I hope she's not disappointed when she can't tell the difference.



There's raw cheddar cheese, and really nice looking broccoli.



Pasta sauce from Butter Valley Harvest, made in Bally, PA.



And some Sumatra coffee beans. Locally roasted and very fresh.


(These were delivered to us on December 17th.)

I am currently planning today's menu, which somehow needs to include most of the fresh things from Thursday's order. Maybe some eggs florentine with home fries for breakfast, broccoli cheddar soup for lunch, and sweet potato pancakes with roasted carrots for dinner.

Let it snow.

We Are...

Since baseball season is finally over, my sports focus can go back to football a bit. I haven't been ignoring it, but baseball was a higher priority. I have a good game on Saturday to start with, but it will be stressful.

Speaking of Saturday's game, is there any better uniform in college football than Penn State?



No. Not even close.

And don't even get me started about our mascot.