Bella's Squeaky Toy

The other day this commercial came on tv showing a couple driving around in their car looking for their lost dog. They squeak his favorite toys throughout the commercial and finally find him digging in a flowerbed. Excitedly, they squeak the toys more to entice him to come to the car, but he runs off again to resume the game.

From the first squeak, Bella loved this commercial. She ran around the tv trying to figure out where the noise was coming from. So we pulled down this old red squeaky ball we had bought for Jake a long time ago. It had been sitting on top of one of the kitchen cabinets for reasons that may become clear soon. And she loved it. It was the greatest thing since sliced bread. But she couldn't really figure out how to make the squeak herself because she couldn't get her teeth around it.

So the next weekend we went out to get her something that was hopefully slightly quieter and that she could fit in her mouth to squeeze. At Petsmart we found a tennis ball-like toy that's shaped like a small bowling pin, so we bought it. After about 10 minutes of sniffing and carrying it around, she figured it out. And about 10 minutes after that, the kitties came out to see what all the racket was.

The first time we had given the red ball to Jake, he squeaked and squeaked and squeaked. Terra came to investigate, and Kairi came to attack. It was the only time we had ever seen Kairi purposefully come within smelling distance of Jake, and she was focused and determined to put an end to the squeak.

Bella's first happy day with her bowling pin didn't go much different. Terra came to sniff, then determined she was annoyed but not threatened, and left. Kairi came to put Bella in her place. Now every time I give the toy to Bella, Kairi comes out to keep a close watch...

Computer Woes

Why is it lately that everything I try to do on this computer takes ten times longer than it should? I promise I am (normally) a very computer literate person. But recently I have felt completely useless when it comes to technology and it's a very humbling feeling. And I think that Morgan, my truly brilliant and very patient friend, is getting a little fed up with me messaging and calling him so much.

Case #1: iPhone and iTunes

Ahhh iTunes... My dad has said before "the worst thing about the iPhone is iTunes" and I wholeheartedly agree. Now I've got the whole music/podcast/videos thing down. And I even was fine with apps and syncing everything when we just had one iPhone. But now we have two, and I've also recently been trying to be more diligent about backing up data.

Upon Morgan's advice I set Chris up with a separate iTunes account with the idea that we could have separate contacts and apps, but point the music library to the same folder so we could share music. But for some reason I didn't really like that. It actually involved three separate music folders and transferring new purchases to the main library folder, and it just sounded complicated. So when I did the whole reinstall of Windows (see next story), I went ahead and got us back onto one account.

I figured out the apps pretty easily and we just check and uncheck what we want to sync to each phone. It seems to remember each of our preferences based on which phone is plugged in. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that continues. But the contacts and calendar don't really have a great way to sync or backup in iTunes and the only solutions anyone talks about on the web involve Outlook which I don't have on this computer. I tried Windows Contacts but the fields aren't all the same and it didn't remember half the numbers or notes I had entered. And in that process I managed to delete ALL my contacts, so I'm ditching that option. But recently Google has made it possible to sync contacts/calendar with iTunes. Hooray a solution! Now my contacts (re-entered manually for the most part) and calendar are backed up and everything is looking good. Oh wait... the photos.

My seemingly simple task for today was to set up a way to sync photos. My intuition (backed up by multiple message board posts) is that you can point iTunes to one folder on the computer and it will sync whatever is in there. Not so much. I set it up, put pictures in there, and plugged in the phone. iTunes even said it was optimizing each photo that was in the folder, but they have failed to show up on the camera roll. And the ones on the phone failed to show up in the folder. I don't even know where to begin. Another call to Morgan...

Case #2: Logitech Universal Remote and CD/DVD drive

After the dogs chewed up our old universal remote, we got a new one and it sat on the counter for about six weeks until today when I finally got around to programming it. So I threw the software CD in the computer and waited for it to load. All I got was the all too familiar grinding sound. But let's rewind a moment...

About 2 months ago I realized that my computer's warranty would expire soon and there were quite a few things wrong with it. You know, things that you live with because you can't be bothered to actually do something about them. But I figured I might as well get them taken care of while they were free. The CD/DVD drive was one of them. It hadn't been reading discs very well for about a year. It wrote to them fine, but when I tried to play a DVD or rip a CD, it gave this horrible, broken-record, teeth-gnashing sound that has now come to represent several incomplete projects which clutter the house and the failure of which rests on my psyche. (Perhaps I should have repaired this sooner?)

So I called the support number and the friendly representative suggested I reinstall Windows. Sure... no problem... So after the reinstall I had a 3-year old "new" computer complete with all that junk software I hoped to never see again. A three-week process of uninstalling junk and reinstalling useful software (as well as messing with iTunes - see above story) and I actually thought it had worked. Until I put in that Logitech software CD.

Instead of really trying to problem-solve, I went ahead and called the warranty number again in fervent hopes that they would tell me this time "it's definitely broken, please enjoy a complimentary new computer for your troubles." No such luck but the friendly representative had me uninstall the drive and reboot. So now the drive will play DVDs and CDs, but continues to have a little problem with software CDs. It read one printer CD but thought the other was a blank burnable disc. And it still refused to read either copy of the Logitech. I ended up downloading the software from the website and it took all of 90 seconds to set up the remote since it had pre-loaded the settings from the last one.

What conclusions have I come to from all these issues? 1. Morgan is a wonderful person. 2. iTunes sucks. 3. My computer is old and crusty. 4. User error can be ONE factor but is not the ONLY factor. 5. I will probably break down and buy a new computer within the next 6 months.

Swimming Lessons

Well this weekend we went to the lake again and I was so proud of Jake because he (almost) learned to swim like a real dog! We had previously blamed his obvious lack of swimming ability on his breed, whose purpose was to track and fight lions in Africa. Not too much water there. But the lake was really low so both the dogs could walk pretty far out and Jake was more adventurous in the water. At one point he actually swam without being cajoled, and there was much less thrashing and splashing.


The weekend was pretty relaxing, and we spent a little time wakeboarding on Saturday. The rest of the time was spent just sitting around. Though at one point we discovered a bat that had chosen the eaves on the back of the house to spend his day sleeping. He was very cute, but he didn't come back the next day.

Destin Trip

Last weekend we went on a road trip to Destin/Fort Walton Beach, Florida to see our close friends, Huy and Heather, get married. They chose a destination wedding at the spot of our road trip vacation last summer, so we were very excited to get to go back. Let's just say the day had been a long time coming!

After much hemming and hawing we finally decided just to caravan with Huy and Heather, and some other friends from Waco, to drive through the night on Wednesday. We picked Chris up after work, got dinner at Freebirds and hit the road. All in all, it wasn't a horrible drive. We were able to stop pretty often for quick breaks and we still made good time. We ate an early breakfast at about 4 am at a Waffle House in Mobile, Alabama and then arrived in Destin about 6:30 am. This gave Huy and Heather plenty of time to get to the courthouse for their marriage license but the rest of us killed time on the beach.


We ate lunch at one of our favorite places, The Back Porch.


Then we finally were able to check in to the Palms hotel and get some rest. Here's the view from our room.


I think Chris and I went about 31 hours without any real sleep. I only got a short nap in the afternoon and then we lounged at the pool for a while.

That evening we went down to the Destin boardwalk with Waco friends Scott, Matt, and Samantha, and Heather's work friends Molly and Jason. We stopped at a little daquiri bar and hard drinks and pizza. And we happened to be there just in time for a great fireworks show! Then to bed for a full 10 hours sleep.


On Friday we spent more time at the pool in the morning.


Then we got ready for the rehearsal at the beach. It was pretty quick so we were able to spend some time afterwards playing beach volleyball and swimming in the ocean. The water was clear and the sand was great as always.


After the rehearsal we headed back to the hotel where Huy and Heather invited everyone up to their room for pizza, wings, and crab claws. Then we called taxis and went out for the night to the Destin boardwalk. We stopped at the daquiri bar again and then headed to Club Aqua for some dancing. Chris even danced a little!

Saturday morning, I went with Heather and the rest of the bridal party to get our nails done.


Then Chris and I went out to grab a quick lunch at AJ's, a well-known restaurant by the harbor.


It was pretty good but I had a horrible headache by that time so I took a quick nap in the afternoon. By mid-afternoon Huy and Heather had split up to start getting ready and finish decorating and setting up. And I noticed the more I hung around, the more things I kept getting put in charge of! I didn't mind at all, it was just funny that by the end I was doing wedding music, name tags, guest book, bubbles, bells, etc.

We took our time getting dressed and putting on makeup, then finally headed down for pictures. I'm not really sure what the issue was with the photographer... I think he didn't allow enough time for the girls, and didn't account for the sun setting behind the other hotels on the beach. But they were trying to time the ceremony with the sunset so everyone was seated down on the beach and the groomsmen were all lined up... but the photographer just kept clicking away despite me telling him 4 times that Huy was ready to get started and we needed to go NOW. Chris finally came up from the beach but by that time it seemed he was done. Heather definitely got stressed by the whole thing, but it all turned out perfect in the end.


The ceremony was short and sweet and the sunset was perfect. Heather was beautiful and Huy had the biggest smile on his face. And it was pretty cool that Mark, a college friend from Waco, was able to officiate. I think the best part was when they kissed all the people on the balconies of the hotel that had been watching, cheered!


The reception was a lot of fun, and very intimate. Even at our wedding, which was only about 75 people, I felt more obligated to make rounds than I think Huy and Heather did. So I hope they felt like they got to spend quality time with everyone there.

I think the drive home was pretty brutal for Chris, but then he didn't really make me drive. I would have been willing if he'd asked but I was perfectly willing to sit and ride too. With a short detour in Mobile (every time!) we made it back in about 12 hours.

Iran in trouble - 2 parts

So in case you've been shut in your closet for the last two weeks, Iranians have been protesting the results of their presidential election, and things have gotten pretty bad lately. My thoughts, in two parts:

Part One

I've been following an Iranian (I assume is male, I'll call him YA) since the protests began. His tweets were usually locations of protests, calls for support, reports of nightly "Allah akbar" (God is great) chants from the rooftops, and messages of hope. But on June 19 he tweeted:

just sent a sms to my relatives saying my goodbyes in case the unthinkable happens in the rally today

Though there wasn't much in the news yet about violence, that message really struck home. Around that time as well, this blog entry circulated:

I will participate in the demonstrations tomorrow. Maybe they will turn violent. Maybe I will be one of the people who is going to get killed. I’m listening to all my favorite music. I even want to dance to a few songs. I always wanted to have very narrow eyebrows. Yes, maybe I will go to the salon before I go tomorrow! There are a few great movie scenes that I also have to see. I should drop by the library, too. It’s worth to read the poems of Forough and Shamloo again. All family pictures have to be reviewed, too. I have to call my friends as well to say goodbye. All I have are two bookshelves which I told my family who should receive them. I’m two units away from getting my bachelors degree but who cares about that. My mind is very chaotic. I wrote these random sentences for the next generation so they know we were not just emotional and under peer pressure. So they know that we did everything we could to create a better future for them. So they know that our ancestors surrendered to Arabs and Mongols but did not surrender to despotism. This note is dedicated to tomorrow’s children…” - an Iranian blogger, with more courage than most of us will ever know.

As Americans, growing up in our comfortable houses with anything we desire available to us at a moment's notice, I don't think we can begin to fathom what it's like to make that decision, to say "I'm leaving my house today to walk in the streets for something I believe, and I might not come home." Of course our soldiers make a similar decision to risk their lives for a cause, but I think it's a different thing altogether for a trained soldier who made the choice to serve. I'm sure many of us consider ourselves patriotic, but how often does the average citizen have an opportunity (or perhaps obligation?) to put their lives on the line for it.

It was three days before I received another tweet from YA. I was glad to hear he and his friends had returned, but they brought with them videos of increased violence and these messages:

We are back. the past few days were hell. so much to tell

Every time i try to sleep i think of the gunshots and wake up

I have seen things this few days that will stay with me forever. the bastards don't even let go of kids

Our bodies are tired and swollen but our spirits are very strong. Death to dictator

Part Two

Another Iranian I have followed (which appears to be a group of people, I'll name PI) has also been consistent and plentiful with information about protests as well as what's going on in the streets. Again, the messages have been hopeful and steadfast, though more violent as the days have passed. On Sat. June 20 the video of Neda's death surfaced and by Mon. and Tues. the news reports indicated violence had increased significantly. It seemed that CNN's coverage was thinning as well. (Since journalists aren't allowed to give information, the news networks have been relying on amateur video/pictures from protesters with internet access.)

On Tues. June 23 PI updated this string of tweets:

just in from Baharestan Sq - situation today is terrible - they beat the ppls like animals

I see many ppl with broken arms/legs/heads - blood everywhere - pepper gas like war

they were waiting for us - they all have guns and riot uniforms - it was like a mouse trap - ppl being shot like animals

saw 7/8 militia beating one woman with baton on ground - she had no defense nothing - #Iranelection sure that she is dead

so many ppl arrested - young & old - they take ppl away - #Iranelection - we lose our group

ppl run into alleys and militia standing there waiting - from 2 sides they attack ppl in middle of alleys

all shops was closed - nowhere to go - they follow ppls with helicopters - smoke and fire is everywhere

phone line was cut and we lost internet - #Iranelection - getting more difficult to log into net

rumour they are tracking high use of phone lines to find internet users - must move from here now

reports of street fighting in Vanak Sq, Tajrish sq, Azadi Sq - now - #Iranelection - Sea of Green - Allah Akbar

in Baharestan we saw militia with axe choping ppl like meat - blood everywhere - like butcher - Allah Akbar

they catch ppl with mobile - so many killed today - so many injured - Allah Akbar - they take one of us

Lalezar Sq is same as Baharestan - unbelevable - ppls murdered everywhere

they pull away the dead into trucks - like factory - no human can do this - we beg Allah for save us

Everybody is under arrest & cant move - Mousavi - Karroubi even rumour Khatami is in house guard

we must go - dont know when we can get internet - they take 1 of us, they will torture and get names - now we must move fast

thank you ppls 4 supporting Sea of Green - pls remember always our martyrs - Allah Akbar - Allah Akbar - Allah Akbar

Allah - you are the creator of all and all must return to you - Allah Akbar - #Iranelection Sea of Green

It's been heartbreaking reading these but it is still hard for me to grasp that this really happened and is not just words on paper. Though you do have to be wary of what people say online and who they may be, I believe these are valid since I've seen the same quotes reported on CNN blogs listed as trusted sources. But when I sat at my desk at work on Tuesday morning and read these, my mind started to discredit them, rather than accept that these things were really happening.

I think that's what the Iranians need us to do though, to continue to read and know that it is real.

Also on June 24, YA posted:

baharestan square is like a violent medieval battlefield. they show no mercy

the ambulances take the injured and bring them out of tehran and dump them into the desert

the militia is using mosques as a gathering point. khamenei, IS THIS WHAT ALLAH WANTS???

We heard the women are being beaten so badly they had to amputate their legs GOD WHERE ARE YOU!

people were angrily chanting "death to islamic republic" and "fear the day we become armed"

I have cried so much i have no tears left. I'm ready to die for my soil. my people. ALLAH o AKBAR

The Iranians have been silent since then.

Weekend at the lake

This weekend we went to the lake house. We left Saturday after Chris got off work and drove down. That afternoon was a very "special" event - the launch of the raft that Chris and my brother-in-law Brad have been working on since last summer. Sometime shortly after the house was finished last year, a big black plastic thing washed up on the shore and Brad got the idea to float on it. Well it obviously wasn't very stable so their project became to remedy this issue (using only building scrap materials from other houses on the street or whatever they could find in the woods).

Side note: I'm not sure that they actually achieved the goal of increased stability... but at least it did float with both of them sitting on it.


So Saturday afternoon they carried it down to the water and Brad climbed on. Chris tied a ski rope on it and pulled it over to the boat dock so he could climb down the ladder on board. There were a few wobbly moments, but then success!

Then came the cluster of spiders, which had apparently made their home inside the cozy raft and did not appreciate the wobbling or the water. When Chris and Brad both started to panic the raft capsized and they both went into the water. As you can see in the picture, Jake and Bella were a little concerned.


The next morning Brad and I got up early and went wakeboarding while Chris stayed in bed. It only took a couple of seconds to feel pretty comfortable again so I tried a few things. Last summer I had been trying to get comfortable riding goofy foot (which is where your opposite foot is forward from your regular stance) so I did a couple of starts that way. Then I also tried a switch (gliding smoothly from regular stance to goofy, or vice versa) and I did it!

In the afternoon, the guys went swimming and the rest of us hung out on the dock with my nephew Lincoln watching the puppies play. Bella loves the water and spent all her time swimming back and forth, under and around the dock. But the other puppies needed a little encouragement and a little swimming lesson.


Bella also finally figured out the water version of fetch. And she enjoyed some time on the tube with Chris.


Lincoln enjoyed watching the puppies and playing with the hose and the ski rope.


We had a nice lunch and then drove home. Now Jake and Bella are passed out on the couch and may or may not wake up for dinner.

I Love Twitter

I know a lot of people roll their eyes and say it's just the next MySpace or Facebook, and yes it is just the next in what I'm sure will be a long line of social networking sites to come. For a while now blogging has been the new medium for news-sharing and opinion-stating, and Twitter gained immense popularity in April with Ashton's race to beat CNN to one million followers and Oprah's first live tweet (I jumped on the bandwagon a week before all that, thank you very much). But I think Twitter's "mini blogging" style offers something more than other sites.

A while back I tweeted half-jokingly that I get all my breaking news from Twitter's trending topics (an automated search which appears on every user's side bar that shows the top ten words, phrases, or hashtags in the live feed). But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how useful a tool it is. For example, you can find out who won a Game 7 without searching on Fox Sports, or you can see who won Dancing with the Stars without turning on the tv. You can find out who liked the newest episode of Jon & Kate, or read about the newest iphone release. But again, Twitter provides an opportunity for something greater than sharing breaking news that Adam Lambert is gay.

Last week the Iranian government held a presidential election between the incumbent (crazy guy) Ahmadinejad and reformist Mousavi. Ahmadinejad won but huge protests broke out from Mousavi's supporters and there is speculation the election was rigged. Of course the government shut down television and cell phone networks, silenced journalists, and blocked websites. But Mousavi's supporters along with the international community have been able to use sites like Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and Facebook to get pictures, videos, and information out. All weekend trending topics were #IranElection, Mousavi, and Ahmadinejad. These social media sites have been the only way in many cases that people have been able to get out what is happening in the streets. In fact, much of the American news media missed what was going on in Iran over the weekend and wasn't reporting much of anything until Twitter users started tagging #CNNFail to complain. Late last night Twitter postponed a scheduled shutdown at the request of the US government to allow Iranians to continue tweeting during their prime usage hours.

Still tonight there are calls from users to change avatars to the color green to show support for the Mousavi cause, as well as cautions not to display Iranian usernames when retweeting messages in case they are being monitored by their government. Reading through these live feeds tonight from users all around the world just gave me a glimpse into how we can be connected by 140 characters.