So I had my blind-blogger date today, with Melisa Wells, author of Remembering Ruby. Remembering Ruby is a heartwarming story about Melisa’s beagle, whom had been a loved family member for 13 years. When Ruby died, Melisa wrote Remembering Ruby in order to get through her own grief, and now her story is out there for the world to read.
When I was getting ready for our date, of course, I wondered, “What should I wear?” Shoot, I have nothing to wear! I wanted her to like me; I didn’t want to look stupid, or say anything stupid (like things about me never getting a dog, because that would be just rude and hurtful, but we all know the Manic family will never be a dog family because, well, I just don’t do dogs… Not that I have anything against dogs. I think puppies are adorable and about the cutest things on earth outside of the newborn cooing baby, but the work involved in owning a dog is overwhelming to me. You know I can barely prepare meals for my family; how could I care for a dog?!).
So, anyway, I didn’t want to be a gross slob, or an obnoxious teller of really bad, crude jokes. I was nervous I would say some dog-related stupid thing, or that we would have nothing to talk about.
Well, NOT TRUE!
You know from the minute you meet a person, really, truly, if you’re going to like that person, and I think (hope!) we both liked one another. We both had on black shirts! That right there was a good sign! The understated safe black shirt and jeans. And we both ordered,--get this--not just a diet Coke, but a diet Coke AND a water. I knew from this point, it would be a fun lunch! And a good match for friendship!
Not only is Melisa the talented author of Remembering Ruby, she has also written for Nail Pro, and her writing and reviews are included in Hungry? Chicago Family, a great guide for the hungry, which I was like, Wow! She is accomplished. She is a go-getter, obviously, and, not only in the book field. She’s also a Spinning Instructor, which is so intriguing to me because I am scared to death to get my arse on a spin bike and attempt that form of exercise! I mean, come on! Could an exercise get more intimidating? I told Melisa I would be scared my lungs would explode if I exerted that much energy on one task!
So, we lunched, and we laughed, and of course, you can guess one of the first things I had to know ...
Why is her name spelled with only one L?!
Duh, because she is unique! (Not that those of you named Melissa are not unique... well, it's just... OK, I'm digging a hole...)
Then, we talked about our love for writing, and how there’s never enough time to do the writing we want to do, and it was nice because we understood where the other was coming from. When we left from our ‘blogger date,’ it was only natural for us to hug, because we are blogging pals, writers, pseudo neighbors, and now friends!
And, of course, now we HAVE to give away a copy of Remembering Ruby, so my idea was for any readers to leave a comment if you’ve had a dog die on you, but come on, how inappropriate would THAT be. That would be the rude, crass, obnoxious me coming out. And that would just be wrong, although if you did have a dog unfortunately die on you, then this book is totally FOR YOU! It’ll make you feel better about your relationship with your pet, and I promise you, the book will give you the feel-good goosebumps!
Anyway, in a combined effort, we came up with this way to win a copy of Remembering Ruby: if you have a dog, or had a dog, leave a comment on what your dog’s name is, or was, and how you came up with his or her name. From all those entries, we will pick one random to win the book. Comments accepted until Friday, when we will let you know who the winner is!
And, please share the news of Remembering Ruby with friends and family, and if, God forbid, you know someone who has just lost a pet dog, this would be a very kind gift to help them while they are grieving. And Melisa would really, really appreciate you passing on her blog/book info to any of your animal-loving friends.
So, leave a comment now if you've ever had a dog, and come on, practically EVERYONE has owned or loved a pet dog at some point, even moi, Ms. Manic Mom.
57 comments:
Me first! Me first!
We had a dog when I was growing up named Ginger because of the big, ginger-colored spots of fur she had all over.
Very boring name but very wonderful dog.
We have a beagle we adopted from SPCA. He is, well, uh, big boned.
My son named him Owen because he looks like a chub of Owen's Breakfast sausage with legs.
Yay!
Thanks for posting! Can I enter the contest? LOL
You forgot to mention that we both shop at JCPenneys. bwahhahaha
Shhhh, Melisa, is NOTHING SACRED!??!?!?!
: )
And NO, you CANNOT enter your own contest!
SHOOT! :)
By the way, I forgot to mention how I loved the title of your post. You're so creative! LOL
Hi! Our dog is named Dazee (spelled weird because she's a dog) Our first dog was named Rizzo..because I am a "Grease" fanatic!
Love the blog!
Angie K--I still have my Grease trading cards--I thought about selling them on eBay but don't think I'd get much.
And, my sister was Rizzo in Grease in HS!
Cute doggy names!
Growing up I had a dog named Blanche who lived 18 years. Everyone thought she was named for the Golden Girls Blanche. But we had our dog before the show and long after the show went off. Blanche in French means white and she was a white dog.
After college I got a black lab named Phoebe. This was at the height of the popularity of the TV show Friends. People again thought, that since I loved the show so much and was a TV buff that I named her after Phoebe Buffay. Wrong again. I took a look at her when she was a puppy (10 weeks) and wanted a unique name and it came to me that she looked like a Phoebe.
MediaGuy, and who woulda thunk it, with a name like MediaGuy--no one everyone thought your dogs were named after TV shows!
And hey, just a guess here, but are you 33 or 34 years old? Didn't know I was a manic psychic now didja? Hee hee!
Also, everyone, make sure to check back on Friday to see if you've won, because some of you don't have an email connected to your blogger name!
Growing up from age 4 to 18, I had a springer-spaniel/beagle mix named Mandy. She died one month after I left for my freshman year at college.
Oops! I forgot to say how we named our dog. Well, I was 4 so my mom and dad named her. I don't know where they got the name.
B--did you ever sing her the song, Mandy, by Barry Manilow??? I love that song!
Okay so we've had a few dogs over the years some died others we had to give away....
We've had Sparky,farley,rosie and barkley and have come to realize that dogs with an eeee sound on the end are crazy so with our new dog ( a cute little maltese X silky) and my love of for better for worse and the fact my hubs will not buy me an old english sheepdog we named our newest dog Edgar Cuz we all know Farley died and Edgar is Farlies son....ON FBFW.... And I love that comic!!
RR
We had the stinkiest, but cutest dog named Ted E. Bear (Teddy). He was a cockerpoo and lived to be ten. I had to put him down in April because of his hips.
Jon brought me home a puppy when we were first married. He named him Askim. We tried to love each other but, let's just say he was a few doggy biscuits short of a box and after he tried to eat one too many people, we had to give him up. Jon was devestated. I admit, I wasn't.
Jon wants a dog now and so do the kids. I think I need to get used to the whole baby in the house thing first. :)
Hey, hey, watch that Melissa stuff!! How fun that you got to meet up with another blogger. I have to say I have met quite a few fun and interesting people from the internet.
Our dogs name was Daisy, nice and boring. The folks named her. We're not ready for the responsiblity of a dog yet either (heck, I can barely take care of SnoreMan and BratGirl).
I'll have to check out Melisa's book, sounds like a good one, maybe I can gleam something for my kitty who is on her last legs
My dog's name is Hope, she's a Husky/German Shepherd cross. We didn't name her but it fits. She was born the day before Christmas and the three girls in her litter were named Charity, Faith and Hope.
She's also known as Stinky (and sometimes we think she only knows herself as that) because a month or two after we got her she picked a fight with a skunk and got sprayed (she did win the war though, just not that battle), anyways she stunk for months and the name has stuck.
Yes im 33. Good call! :) But all of that is pure coincidence. (ie what i do for a living and what my pets names are). :)
Glad you had fun! I once had a cocker spaniel named Tiffany because that's what I really thought my name should have been.
My dog's name was Samantha...Sam for short. We just thought that she was pretty, so we thought that Samantha was a pretty name for her. She was a cocker spanial...springer mix. She was really sick, really blind and really deaf. One day when we moved the furniture to clean the carpets she went to jump up on her couch that wasn't there, and jumped right into the wall...
Of course, we had to laugh at this, but we also felt really badly for her. Last summer we had to put her down. It was a hard decision for our family, but she was just miserable. Ne way...it was the saddest day ever!!!
i spell my name with only 1 L. did you mean only 1 S? :)
Oh, and for the contest, my dog's name is Zeke. He's a big yellow lab. the name seems totally ordinary until you hear it paired with my/his last name. Ek (pronounced EEEEk). yes, rhymes with Zeke. and he was named before i got him. in fact, that's WHY i got him....bc it rhymed. All the vets and kennels remember him and call him Zeeeeke EEEEK!
MELEK!!!! You were the O N L Y one paying attention!!! See, I tried to TRICK everyone by saying only ONE L, yet you are the smartest one on the blog block, the ONLY one who realized my coyness and quick wit. It's such a shame there are not more smarter people than you in this world.
: )
Our little puppy is named Lola, *cue the music*, everyone who sees her sings the song. She got her name from my 9 yr. old who wanted a dog so badly that she looked up the pet ads in the newspaper and called up a breeder,told the lady that she wanted a small, girl puppy she could name Lola that didn't shed so she wouldn't be allergic to her. My daughter set up an appt. with the breeder, telling her that her parents told her to go ahead!?! The day of the appt. the breeder called to confirm, much to my shock and surprise. Being the sucker I am, I went and my daughter walked up to the cutest little fluff-ball ever and said, "That is Lola!" $$$later we were on our way home with our new addition.
I must say, never say never because I was the Gate Keeper of NO dogs in our house for 14 yrs. and then....I caved. Best thing I was ever tricked into :)
Not the only one...I thought you were just trying to be pun-ny ;)
I have actually noticed a lot of double l's lately!!
11 years ago hubby and I had a mini-dachshund that we named Oscar. Since he was a "weenie" dog we named him after who else but, Oscar Mayer. In hindsight we should've named him lil' smokie for his coloring and that fact that he was a "mini-weenie" dog. Hope I win.
Barksure - best dogs name ever!
Okay, IIIIIII didn't even notice that "one L" thing. That is hilarious!
the one L issue - my sleep deprived mind just thought you'd lost the plot...
our dog's name is Zoe.
my sister's dog's name is Zeke and we wanted them to both have the same first letter. and so it was zoe or zelda. we went with zoe.
i will put a link on my blog for remembering rudy. hopefully people will check it out.
Kay, is Melek your sister?!?! SHe has a Zeke! Zeke and Zoe sounds so cute together.
And time to 'fess up--I didn't realize I wrote L instead of S!
OUr dog was named Tuesday. She was a great dog my husband rescued from Newark NJ. Poor baby died last year way too young.
Bullet, Bullet #2, Patches, Bunia (pronounced boonya - it is Ukranian and we have Ukranian friends) that's when we were kids. Target, named after the store Target, cause, well, some people were giving away dogs outside of Target and Dakota....I think that was it, was it? I really really need the book, cause when Dakota kicks it, my husband will need it more than me! In fact, he still has a book from his collage girlfriend about losing a pet....it is a children's book, I'll try and find it and let you know because it might be good to share with your readers that have kids. Anyway, his childhood dog was named "punch!"
By the way, Melek wasn't the only one paying attention. No one wanted to make you look stupid in case you made the mistake! They respect you too much!
Anon 8:55 IS MY SISTER and THOSE were some of our dogs' names, and NO you can't enter! Nanny nanny boo boo. But, when Dakota kicks it, I will buy you and G-bear a copy of the book, and Melisa will even sign it for you!
And the other Anon--I'm guessing you're my sister too... who the eff respects me enough not to tell me MY MISTAKES!! We learn from mistakes!
: )
:) I don't do dogs either.
So, did I miss any dogs from our childhood?
Wow Milisa, your dogs face looks just like my Owen!
When I was a kid, we had a black lab named Blue. My mom even made up a song for him.
'cause he's a blue dog
with a blue collar
and brown eyes.
His sister's name was Belle. He was a good dog, used to pull around the yard in my sled.
:D
Happy Halloween! I was going to call my dog Socks (guess why :) but my girlfriend decided Loki was a better name because Loki is the Norse god of mischief. So I put aside the fact that my dog is female (and Loki is a male god), and that is my dog's name. My other dog is named Freya because that's the Norse god of beauty.
Rob, DUDE, You spelled Melisa's name wrong! Are you NOT paying attention here? Duh.
Her Master--I knew a Loki once, a huge dog! And he was a boy dog! I've seen your doggies--they are cute!
Rob, don't leave me hangin'! Post a photo of Owen on your blog! Or tell me where I can see it!
And that's okay Manic, even my own grandmother misspelled my name til the day she died. ROFL!
Manic, I'm SO glad you had fun on your blind date! Always fantastic to make a new friend! Right on!!
I'm with you on the no dog thing. But, I did have a dog when I was in High School. Her name was Abby, She was Rottweiler & I LOVED her! I'm not an animal lover either, but I loved her! She was over protective about me & would get up & growl at anyone pissing me off! (ya gotta love that!)
I was given Abby after a loss, as kind of a "sorry things suck, heres a dog" it sounds lame, but it helped in a HUGE way. Like I said, I LOVED her!
BOB. The dog's name was Bob. We inherited him from a crazy lady we found through Craigslist. When we asked why she named him Bob, she said, "I named him after my dead father. Bob (the dog) looks so much like him (Bob the Dad)." To this day, I can still not believe it.
Manic,
I also remember naming my Gerbils Abbott and Costello, my Guinea Pig Tootie (that one was from The Facts of Life), and my hamster Road Runner. Maybe there was a theme after all to how I name my pets.
-MediaGuy
PS-One of my good friends names all her pets after alcohol brands. I think its good to have a theme. Yet my dogs were pure coincidence that they shared names with tv characters. :)
Manic, I am a unique rebel.
Uh, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Hey, at least I only used one S! C'mon, throw me a freaking bone here.
(for some reason I am stuck on movie quotes today)
Oh yeah- Myliza, I am on the road right now. I will see about posting a pic of Owen when I get a chance. You will freak at how much they look a like!
(interesting, Microsoft spel chekr noes how tu spel yur name kerectly Melisa!)
Oooh, I have to read that book!
How we named our dog is actually a slightly depressing story: we brought home a Cairn puppy in 2002, and named her Marley (a combination of my last name, Martin, and J's last name, Riley); Marley died 6 weeks later of kidney failure (a genetic defect), and the breeder gave us a 'replacement' puppy. We went through a slew of names, and wanted something hopeful and light. Thus, Daisy came to be named.
Hay Rhobb!
I cnt wayt two cee Oh-when's pikchur!
Muhlzzah
Rob--you are quite popular over here at Manic's this post... and I had to CRACK UP when you asked me to 'throw you a bone' being that this whole post is about DOGS in the first place, and get it, bones, dogs... I think you see the connection!
: )
Oh, and further commenting--Jess Riley, acclaimed novelist (I can say that, right?), author of the hugely popular upcoming novel, Driving Sideways, does have one of the most adorable pups I've ever seen! SHout out to Daisy!
yes melek is my sister. i thought you knew that. haha!!
and her name is melissa. really!
and i thought zeke and zoe sound good together too
I have had many the dog in my life.... but the one with the best name has to be Pizza.... she was an Aussie and my younger siblings thought she looked like a pizza and the name stuck. Aussie are great dogs.
awwww I've been popping into her blog and I have to say, I have a soft spot.
If I don't win a copy of the book, I'll definitely go buy it! :)
I have had several dogs in my life, but the one that holds the spot dearest to my heart is Scruffy, my little angel that you see in my profile pic.
He got the name from my hunny, who named him after his first dog, a poodle, named scruffy who died from Parvovirus a few weeks after he got him. I have to say, though, that his name totally suits him. He's a shih-tzu, but he doesn't have the froo froo personality one would expect from such a dog. He thinks he's top dog, he acts like he's a retriever of some sort, and he's incredibly frisky and tough.
He holds an extra special spot because he is a survivor. Two, almost three years ago, he was diagnosed with AIHA (autoimmune hemolytic anemia) and he almost died. With help from our amazing vet, the power of prayer, and tons of faith in him, he recovered and he is as fast and frisky as ever.
Gosh, I love that dog. :) So, if I read "Remembering Ruby" I'll probably have the same reaction I had when I read the book "marley and me" I'll probably BAWL my EYES out. Dogs are so special and they definitely hold a special place in my heart.
I had a dog named Cody growing up, and he was my best pal forever! My step-dad named him that because he never thought he would have a son and that was his name for a son. :)
I have a dog now named Zoe. I named her that because I like the name Zoe and my hubby said I could NEVER name one of our children that, so Zoe it was. She is now 12 years old and will soon join the doggie angels in the sky, I'm afraid.
We also have a beagle named Allie. We named her Allie because when we first got her, her name was Molly and we didn't like it and wanted to name her ourselves. She was used to Molly though, having lived with that name for 6 months of her life already, so we came up with a name we all liked that kinda sounded like the original.
I know, long comment, but....had to! :)
We have a dog named Sam - he's a black lab/dalmation mix that we got in our 2nd year of marriage when he was 9 weeks old. We'll be celebrating our 14th anniversary in January, which will make Sam 13 in May. He's a wonderful dog to have with three small children in our home - 9 months, almost 2 yrs & almost 3 yrs - he is very calm and patient with all three of the kids pulling on his tail and laying on him.
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