KidsRuby plus Cupcakes

I took the kids to KidsRuby this morning (another free workshop, part of the same conference that sponsored my RailsBridge workshop). The leader was enthusiastic and engaging, and they all seemed to like their two-hour intro to programming. It was more than I expected, because I figured if I got one out of three that really enjoyed it, that would be good. They even came home and geeked out for a while experimenting with some of the things they learned. I’m so happy to be able to expose them to different experiences than back at their old home.

Afterwards, since they “earned” so much chocolate candy by asking questions throughout the class, I told them I’d swap them something yummy out. We went and got chocolate vegan cupcakes from Ida’s Cupcakes, which were totally worth the effort!

My Ruby day

I had a good day at the Ruby on Rails workshop. So good to stretch my brain in a different way. Plus, I got to meet some great new people from a totally different tech crowd than normal (from Bend, Portland, Seattle, and even Wisconsin). We built a very basic app today – I can’t wait to explore RoR more. I’ll have to divvy up my time between Ruby, WordPress, and keeping my SharePoint skills sharp.

Attending the all-day workshop made for some creative swapping with the kids and hub, since we only have the one car, and I couldn’t even consider taking the bus since I needed to drop the kids off at school. We’ve got to figure out the bus thing for the twins, especially with the price of gas now!

I can hear it snow

Sitting here in my home office {aka, the living room}, I can hear it snow. That can’t be right. Is it raining ice crystals? Hailing? Windy plus snowy? I can’t see much out the window, so I guess I’ll find out tomorrow.

Today I got the stray calico spayed by BendSNIP {yes, she’s still in my bathroom}. She seems to have come through fine and has been jumping all over when I visit her, even though I wish she’d be still.

I also got my laptop backed up and Windows 7 reinstalled {finally}. Just barely got it done and then took it tonight to Install-fest, pre-cursor to the RailsBridge workshop, a free intro to Ruby on Rails workshop {part of Ruby on Ales}. It will be fun, because I know next to nothing about Ruby, and since I’m not a developer, it will be a good challenge. We got a lot of stuff installed tonight. I have little idea what I did, but I did it, and it seems to “work.” I’m sure tomorrow it will all become clear.

I also snuck in an interview at the station tonight, in-between the cat and the Install-fest. That, plus dropping the kids off this morning, treadmill at the gym, and talking with a client, made for a full day.

Sunday, my favorite day lately

It was much darker and prettier than this photo suggests

Nice day, overall. Met a new friend and her kids at the park, where we chatted and let the kids play a bit. We took Ruby—she’s been kind of stressed out lately—she didn’t want to get in the car, although she clearly wanted to go with us. Once we got her in and down to the park, she wouldn’t relax and lay down, but seemed hyper alert to all that was going on. It’s a large park, and there were a lot of people and other dogs constantly going by.

Afterwards, we walked down to the river access and she waded in and drank some water and my younger step-kids waded a bit. Unfortunately, a kid accidentally let go of an inner tube and it came rushing down the bank and smacked right into Ruby. She freaked out, jumping into me and my older step-daughter, and pulling at her leash to get away. The poor kid was really sorry, but I was so concerned for Ruby that I’m sure I gave him the evil eye, immediately comforting Ruby and then taking her up to the grass, away from the water. She is now clearly afraid of all air mattresses and tubes, avidly avoiding them on the walk back through the park to the car (we had to leave shortly after that as she seemed pretty agitated). Poor thing. She’s always been a nervous dog, but she seems extra on edge this summer.

But the rest of the day went well. We hung out, baked some carrot bread in the BBQ (plus another loaf, later, in the oven), read books, chatted on the cool back porch, I mowed part of the very overgrown back yard, and after dinner at about 8:15 we drove over to Pilot Butte and walked up it under a beautiful harvest moon to the East and an equally orange sunset to the West. (I don’t know if it was technically a harvest moon, since the full moon was two days ago, but it was big, and it was orange.) It was nearly dark coming down the trail, but it was worth it.

Sprinklers + thunder = greyhound drama

Poor Ruby, she had a triple-whammy tonight—she got left in the yard for a while in the dark, the sprinklers came on {she hates to be wet}, AND we had a big thunderstorm. {My fault: she doesn’t bark, and it’s been so hard since Deimos died—he was the one who taught himself to bark when he was ready to come in, even though greyhounds don’t usually bark. Bubba will bark for her, but he’s in such a deep sleep half the time that I don’t make him get up to go out with her.} We didn’t realize until she started body slamming the door to the porch that she was out there and she was VERY upset when she came in. Poor sweet thing. She’s such a good girl and I feel like crap for forgetting her.

Tomorrow evening we were planning on joining some other greyhounds in Bend for a walk at Shevlin Park. I know she’d really like that. But I’m afraid it might thunderstorm, and then she’ll hate it. Guess we’ll have to wing it with the weather.

Since Ruby’s been with us {she arrived around the age of 4, sometime after retiring from racing and living with a family for a while}, she’s been afraid of thunderstorms, fireworks, loud noises, raised voices, and sudden movements, and has always hated getting wet—doesn’t matter if it’s wading in the river, or walking through sprinklers or in the rain. Who knows what those early years were like for her, but we try to make her feel safe and loved now. She’s a sensitive and beautiful soul.