Lights!

As you are likely aware, we put up several Christmas trees and so  it takes a little bit of time to plug and unplug each one daily. That's why I was excited to find this handy indoor remote set. I have considered this type of product in the past and decided to give it a try. 

Each of the plugs goes into an outlet near your Christmas tree and the Christmas tree gets plugged into that.

As you can see, up to three trees can be remotely operated per keychain. There is the option of turning on each individually or all three simultaneously. I was so satisfied with the system that I purchased additional so that all of our trees could operate this easily. I love just pushing a button to turn on and off our trees. This particular brand is from Aldi and sells for $14.99. I am sharing so that if you're interested, you can snag one before they're sold-out because seasonal merchandise is limited. 

A Precious Gem

A ruby is a precious gemstone which is a symbol of pure love and loyalty. The name comes from the Latin word ruber, which means red. 

When you think of a ruby, I'm sure a beautiful red stone comes to your mind. To us, it means a beautiful red Boston terrier.

Nine years ago, we were able to adopt this sweet little girl. When we first met her, we found her red coat to be not only beautiful, but exceptionally soft. Although she was four years old, she'd spent her entire life in a puppy mill with little human interaction. Valued only for producing babies, she slept outside and did not know her assigned name. We had the privilege of not only giving her a forever home, but also her forever name. After much consideration, we decided that calling her Rubie (unconventional spelling) would be just right. Almost immediately, we all fell in love. She bonded with us and her new Boston "sister" who was already a part of our family. Always timid, our little cutie preferred the security of her home and family. In fact, she was our shadow. Never more than a step behind us at home, she kept track of our every move. It's the way she liked it and so did we. She was happiest snoozing while being held or snuggled tightly next to us.

Equally connected to her sibling, she loved cuddling with her, too! 

I always enjoyed sharing the pictures I took of the girls each holiday and many people have come to expect to see them. You could tell Rubie was often bored by my silly ideas! 😉

Our Rubie was perfectly mannered, sweet, quiet, petite and loving.  We adored her. If you have ever had a pet as part of your family, you understand why we were heartbroken when she passed away two weeks ago. She had recently undergone eye surgery and, in fact, you saw her recuperating with her little Elizabethan collar in their Halloween picture. Ironically, that day was the last time I had worked on my blog. Many of you are aware that this year has been filled with trials for my family and, despite my best efforts,  I don't have the opportunity to work on posts with regularity. If you had told me that would be the last time for me to show one of the girls' holiday pictures, I would not have believed it. She was healing nicely from her operation when she suddenly got sick and grew weak. We rushed her to the emergency clinic in the wee hours of the morning, but she was septic and passed away that evening. She had wonderful care from compassionate and competent vets and techs. We miss her terribly and are very thankful that we were able to have her as part of our family. She was a blessing to us. 

Do you know what? As it turns out, the name we gave her was absolutely ideal because she was a precious GEM of a girl who was, indeed, a symbol of pure love and loyalty. ❤