Triple Valentine Pressure

Hey It’s Jet Here.

(My BFF, Savannah, wrote this reminder, and ahem… I hope she does not mind me borrowing it!) It’s THURSDAY and that means another VBP Blog Hop starts all over again!!

And you know the drill now, right?…just grab the badge and code…put it on your VBP post sometime between today and next Wednesday…and be sure to come back and visit the blue froggy symbol at the bottom of my page.  Give him/her a click and enter your VBP post into the linky tool…PAWSOME!!

Since joining Casa Jet in 2008, the male/female ratio  was even; three guys: me, Puffy and Fluffy and three ladies: Mom, Rachel and Koko/JJ.  Sadly this year, I’m the lone male who must concoct Valentines wishes for all three ladies of the house.

I’ll begin with Mom.  Let’s see, I’ve already provided my belly at 4:55 a.m. for an opener.  Since she works from home today, (although she mentioned she has a bunch of outside appointments from morning until mid afternoon), I will have extra opportunities for cuddles and snuggles, which she adores.  Oh, oh… she removed a pack of chicken and a pack of lamb chops from the freezer last night.  I bet she’s cooking tonight!  If my hunch pans out (get it?  Pans out!!!), as her faithful Kitchen K9, we’ll have a fun time in the kitchen, too.  I won’t give away all my ideas, because you need to leave room for flexibility, living in the moment, you know… the genius that is K9!  (For those of you who know how much Mom LOVES basketball (UMiami is #3 right now, oh my gosh, first time EVER, and the HEAT… well Lebron has crossed over to hoops nirvana  right now… this weekend is All-Star break, so, our tivo will no doubt get a workout!  I love sharing hoops viewing with Mom; another great idea!)

Rachel, hmmm… she’s at her dad’s today… I’ll have to save up ideas for her this weekend.  I’ll visit her during TV time, leave her food alone, try not to bark during her long Sleeping Beauty teenage sleep sessions, and give her a few famous Jetty kisses.

Little Miss Isn’t Every Day Valentines Day, well; she’s easy peasy, a slam dunk, a no brainer!!! On today’s schedule – extra wrestling, paw cleaning (I gingerly and gently give Little Miss Spa Day a mani quite often), signaling Mom to give us one of Little Miss Chew Girl’s favorite dental treats after our evening constitutional.

What Mom?  You would like to write?  Ok.

Jetty, thank you in advance for your Valentines gifts, you show us every day how much you love us.  Look away for a few lines, I want to share what I shall give to you today.  First of all my gratitude and love for joining my life; you bring joy, laughter, affection, mindfulness , manly man swagger, a debonair style, care taking, and love each and every day.  On the tangible  side, how about a hard boiled egg, a kale stem, maybe some chicken/lamb tidbits, a hoof after our evening walk and a big brush/massage before bed!

I’ve always found the fact that I give you your Heartworm meds on the 14^th of the month, which in February coordinates with Valentines Day kind of funny… not the ha ha funny, the hmm, that’s interesting kind of funny. 

Love you my boy and this year, it feels sweeter.  Mom.

Another great Valentines Day.

We joined the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop hosted by Pepi Smart Dog (formerly by Cokie the Cat!)

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On Role Players and Rings

Hey It’s Jet Here.

Guess what?  Last night, JJ and I played our roles for the Miami Heat and they WON THE 2012 NBA CHAMPIONSHIP!

Before going any further, all of us here at Casa Jet salute and honor what OKC, (the Oklahoma City Thunder),  brought to the finals: talent aplenty, great coaching by Mr. Scott, and best of all, awesome sportsmanship.  Our K9 pals and their Mom over at Dogs n Pawz have demonstrated an elite level of sportsmanship over the series, wishing us luck and respecting the play of our team as we have  theirs.  OKC retains a bright future bringing back a young team with a deeper perspective next season.  They honored themselves, their team, their owners, their fans and their city. 

Very few observers in the media or on the streets believed the HEATcould pull off this victory.  For those unfamiliar with basketball in this millennium, many professional teams amass two to three stars (like our big three: the King – Mr. Lebron (James), Flash or DWade – Mr. Dwayne (Wade) and CB – Mr.Chris (Bosh)) and then fill in their rosters with “role players.”  Role players sacrifice personal glory (scoring, star designations) and take on the jobs the team needs.  Last night, Mr. Mike (Miller), Mr. Mario (Chalmers), Mr. Shane (Battier) and Mr. Norris (Cole) executed their roles flawlessly.

Now, just for the record, in case you are unaware, JJ and I have executed our roles flawlessly too.  We:

• Stayed awake for all the games during the playoff season, (ok, mostly…)
• Held our “empty the tank requests” until after the game or until Mom felt comfortable “pausing” the action,
• We barked in agreement with Mom’s cheering,
• We gave Mom support on the couch when she worried about the close games,
• We showed up on time and wearing colors, (on time being a BIG DEAL in Miami!)
• During time outs or between quarters, we listened to Mom’s coaching (send the team your best good luck, guys, they need your help, you can do it, kiss, kiss, kiss, hug, hug, hug) and carried out her tasks.
• Cuddled with Mom during close fourth quarters,
• Let her bury her head in our fur and peak through to see how the team was doing.
• Let Mom sleep a little later the morning after the games.

Mom, for playing our roles in superior fashion, like the guys on the team, do we get a championship ring, huh? Huh? A championship hat? A t-shirt? Something?  I’m working on it, Jetty, I’m working on it.

Another great, Congratulations to the Miami Heat, day.

Tasty Tuesday: Cooking with Sister

Hey It’s Jet Here.

Thanks to Sugar and Kol for initiating Tasty Tuesdays, today is our eleventh participating post!

On Friday, my human sister Rachel offered to make dinner for her friend/boy (she’s a teen; you’re not supposed to ask a lot of questions!).  She made steak and sweet potato fries.

Little Miss JJ Homemaker, offered to help, take notes or sous chef!

Remember, K9s can have sweet potato and most of us REALLY like them. Mom would recommend salt free for us (many humans too).  Here’s the recipe for:

Easy Peasy Sweet Potato Oven Fries

(We were tempted to call them Miami Heat Fries because Game 4 of the NBA final is tonight and the fries fit Heat Colors!)

Preheat oven to 400.

• Peel a few large sweet potatoes.
• Slice into matchstick or wedge style fries.
• Sprinkle with olive oil and massage. (You can do this on the tray or in a bowl and then place in one layer on tray.)
• (If you’re making separate batches for humans and K9s then you can spice up the human batch with cumin, chili pepper, coriander, garlic powder, onion powder or a Cajun blend, bbq blend, salt and pepper, have fun)
• Place in oven for about 10-15 minutes.
• With tongs, turn the fries over and/or move them around.
• Bake for another 10-15 minutes (depending on their size, you may need to adjust) until they crisp up.
• Remove, let cool if you can resist!

Another great, and sweet day!

CORRECTION: ON SATURDAY’S POST, SNOOPY’S SPONSOR IS PETSMART, NOT PETCO… Sorry, guess Mom was tired!

Mischief Monday – Almost 100% Sure…

Hey It’s Jet Here.

Oh gosh, you’re not going to believe this…

Remember when the mischief was No On/No Off?   Well, Mom handled that obstacle fairly well; she turned the box on by standing in front of it and touching a magic spot.  The spot would light up and say POWER.  She did the same when she wanted the box to go to sleep.  Many of you suggested that perhaps the box had celebrated so many birthdays, it no longer could function.  We crossed our paws and fingers that you were mistaken.

Last week, Mom tried the magic spot and noises occurred, however, a second sign lit up; STAND BY.  Mom has this thingie called U-Verse which allows us to watch Tanked, Mr. Caesar, The NBA Finals, etc.  In the tropics, when we receive lots of storms, U-Verse can go kaplooey for a while and has to do this reboot thingie.  Mom tried all her tricks and this blue screen with AT &T stayed put with an arrow going round and round and round until it made us dizzy.  After a really long time, it said, quit client?  We said yes.  Mom tried a few days in a row, hoping that the box and Sir U-Verse would chat and make up.  No such luck.

Do you know what it’s like to share a tv box with a teenager on summer break hooked on something called TLC?  Thank heavens for that TIVO stuff or Mom and ol’ Jetty boy would be up a creek without a paddle I tell ya!

So… Mom is trying to wrap her head around (strange phrase you humans use…) the idea that we need a new box.  She told me she has to save up biscuit money because right now, the jar is a wee bit low (ok… empty)… she said we’ll take this opportunity to catch up on our reading.

Another great, except for the tv box, day.

Thanks to Alfie’s Blog, Snoopy’s Dog Blog, My Brown Newfies and Luna, A Dog’s Life…for sponsoring the hop!  Click on any of the sponsors to join the hop.

Delayed Gracias! Part I

Hey It’s Jet Here.

As a result of Mom’s work schedule, our blog hopping schedules, and our computer issues, we have not said our proper Thank You (s) and followed protocol on our recent awards.

Before proceeding with proper etiquette (vocab builder), a quick note on awards, from our perspective.  When we began receiving awards and bestowing awards, we felt honored privileged and supported in the efforts we put forth.  We take awards as a way to stretch our awareness of other bloggers work in addition to feeling the commraderie and passing along the good.  How about you?  Do you feel that awards have gotten out of hand or do you feel they are a way of saying, “good job, we appreciate your efforts, pass on the kindness” like we do?

Ok, with that said… (off my Buddy Wash Soap Box. (Green Tea and Rosemary))

Thanks to our dear feline friend, Savvy, from Savannah’s Paw Tracks for bestowing the Very Inspired Blogger Award.  She calls me Big Guy (which I just LOVE) and shares her daily recovery since her family rescued her from the shelter where they thought she was unfriendly.  Boy if they could see her now!  She taught me paw pats and paw pumps, too!

Thanks to my blogging little sister, Poppy, from Fluffy Popcorn for sharing a 2^nd Sunshine Award.  Guess what? Poppy sent us the award on the same day we sent it to her… BOL!  We will thank her more tomorrow.

We will forward The Very Inspiring Blogger Award today and The Sunshine Award tomorrow.  The Rules:

(1) Thank the person who nominated you and link back to them in your post.  Gracias, (we live in the tropics where humans speak a great deal of Spanish), to Savvy – tons of paw pats and paw pumps!

(2) Share 7 things about yourself…

1. This week I reacted a little better during the storms, it was Little Miss Barkarooni who robo-barked.
2. I’m super excited that mango season began in our back yard this week! I’m waiting for the first fruit to ripen.
3. I can be a Momma’s boy sometimes.
4. I can’t wait to go swimming. (Mom’s waiting for my skin boo boos to fully resolve.)
5. I love my Scooby Doo Academy curriculum.
6. Nothing beats a belly rub.
7. I’m a great Heat fan, I’m always wearing their colors!

(3) Nominate 15 bloggers you admire (in no particular order).

1. Fluffy Popcorn – Poppy and her Mommy have inspired us with their unending creativity.
2. Basset Momma – Fred, Gloria and Miss Janet inspire us by reading and responding to what feels like limitless posts with good cheer.  They’re all really funny, too.
3. BZ Training – Henry and Zachary’s human takes some of our favorite photos.
4. Jodi Stone – Sampson and Delilah’s Mom inspires us by having the courage to be herself and walk the talk.
5. GloGirly – Miss Katie inspires us with her amazing creativity, especially The Real Housecats of the Blogosphere videos.
6. Snoopy’s Dog Blog – He and his Mom sponsor the Mischief Monday blog hop, won the Petco blog opportunity from the conference, is writing a book, does pet therapy…geesh, he sets a high standard for manly men like me.
7. Kol’s Notes – He and Miss Jodi inspire us with their cool artwork, their K9 recipes and their newish Tasty Tuesday blog hop.
8. Tales and Tails – Bunny and her sister, Morgan inspire us in two ways.  Bunny inspires us with her modeling talents.  Morgan is training to help humans stay safe.
9. Puppy in Training – Mr. Colby puppy raises for Guide Dogs of America.  We so appreciate his good work with Apache and the pack.
10. Roxy, The Traveling Dog – Miss Mary, Roxy and Torrey inspire us because Miss Mary is such a talented artist and the family participates in this cool historical stuff.
11. All Things Dog Blog – Miss Carrie inspires us by educating Mom and I on training and lots of other info.
12. Something Wagging This Way Comes – Honey and her Mom inspire us with beautiful, insightful writing.
13. My Dogs Love Me – Haopee and her K9s inspire us with their creativity (they even make headers for other bloggers) and tech help for Mom.
14. A Tonk’s Tail – Miss Allie and her husband volunteer at Missouri’s largest no-kill shelter.  She shares her home with Mr. Allie and two foster feline failures (that means she adopted them!)
15. For the Love of My Dogs – Miss Deanna and her family inspire us for her tireless work at OUR animal shelter and her proactive efforts on issues like BSL.

Another great, inspiring, day.

Thanks to Life With Dogs, Confessions of the Plume and Two Little Cavaliers for hosting the Saturday Blog Hop.

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I Flummoxed (Vocab Builder) Mom!

Hey It’s Jet Here.

 

Last night, the streaky lights lasted for hours.  Mom returned home around 9:30 p.m. and our last empty the tank happened at 6:00 p.m.  Mom fully intended to carry out our evening constitutional, except due to the storm, there was no chance in you know what that JJ and I had any intention of leaving safe, secure, Casa Jet. 

 

Mom completely understood and suggested we snuggle in for the second game of the NBA finals, which she had on “tape delay.”  Little Miss Barkarooni has now showed her full storm behavior and barks EVERY time a streaky light or boom occurs, while shivering like a leaf.  Mom considered putting those soft eye covers humans use to block out light for a good night’s sleep.  My human sister, Rachel, used them when she was little. 

 

JJ enjoyed bursts of distraction fetching her toys a few times in a row before catching on to Mom’s strategy.  Mom hoped JJ would tire and poop out from exhaustion… REALLY?  Have you not noticed we call her Jumping JJ for a reason?  Anyway, Mom thought it interesting that I acted more mellow than usual.  Her conclusion: while the streaky lights were constant, the booms were few and far between. 

 

We thought the streaky lights set the perfect backdrop for the White Hot Heat theme/flame motif etc… and wondered if the HEAT organization ordered streaky lights on purpose.  We concluded they did not because those naughty streaky lights interupted the tv reception and made lots of fans mad!  BTW, Mom hugged me hard the last one minute, peeking through my fur until the Heat won! 

 

Anyway, this morning, Mom thought JJ and I would do our business quickly and efficiently because we had to (excuse the boldness…) “hold it” all night.  We left the garage to the right.  I sniffed:

 

• The corner street sign surrounded by oodles of firecracker plants… not the right vibe,
• Crossed to the other side and sniffed two tall trees surrounded by tall, dark green spider plants… almost assumed the empty the tank position and changed my mind…
• Trotted to the next lawn, onto the sidewalk, onto the grass by the next street sign (a Jetty fave) paused… took in the scents and … nope, nothing…
• Skipped the swail by 2 houses because of Buddy, the golden’s barking across the street.
• Passed the next corner’s street sign and the wall (both concrete and bush) shielding Max the Beagle’s house from the world.
• Turned another corner and got distracted by Max the Beagle’s feline brother, Salem,
• Finally found the small island at Miss Mary Ann’s house, investigated the first area with spider plant, dismissed the location and selected the rocky area instead. (Yes, this is the area where Miss Mary Ann told Mom two days ago a racer snake had wriggled from.)  He had to know Jetty was there! 

Mom had that flummoxed face the whole time.  She couldn’t understand why I needed to study, investigate, observe, examine, explore, check out, look over, probe and reconnoiter (vocab builder) all my favorite spots without emptying my tank!  Mom, Mom, Mom, you poor human with a pedestrian (vocab builder) olfactory system… you cannot imagine the subtleties I sniffed out this morning.  Selecting a tank emptying location requires finesse Mom… it’s one of those things…

 

Another great, selective, day. (we’ll add pictures a little later…)

Tasty Tuesday – Tail-gating

Hey It’s Jet Here.

Thanks to Sugar and Kol for initiating Tasty Tuesdays, today is our tenth  participating post!

The NBA Championship begins tonight between our Miami Heat and the Oklahoma City Thunder.  Here at Casa Jet, we will tail-gate… RIGHT MOM?  In case Mom needed some K9 inspiration, I shared the following link from Rodale for 5 healthy treats.  HINT, HINT!   What?  These require a dehydrator? Hmpf… this will not do… at least for tonight…

What Mom? … Mom asked me, one of her Kitchen K9s,  to share a human recipe capturing the Miami Heat theme as well as the backyard mangos which have started to drop. Then she requested a K9 recipe capturing the Miami Heat theme, however, with different fruit, since mangos are not the best for K9s. Scooby Doo Academy trained Investigator Jetty on the job!

Pineapple-Mango Chili Popsicles

Makes 6 popsicles

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup mango, chopped
• 1 cup pineapple, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:

• Start off by making simple syrup – bring water to a boil, add sugar and stir until completely dissolved.  Set aside to cool.
• Add mango and pineapple to a blender or food processor and puree.  Mix in simple syrup, chili powder and cayenne pepper.
• Pass the mixture through a strainer, and discard all solids.
• Pour into Popsicle molds, and wait patiently while the freezer works its magic.  (Mom, The Kitchen Counselor, says you can make a granita if you do not have molds!)

Smoothie Dog Treat

• 1 cup melon (no seeds) – (Jet: must be cantaloupe for Heat colors, unless you find a deep reddish color watermelon!)
• 1 cup strawberries
• 1 banana

Directions

• Puree the fruit together in a blender to make a smoothie.
• Once you have made the smoothie, you can either serve it straight away, (freeze in ice cube trays – our idea!) or freeze in containers to make a special fruit Popsicle. .
• Don’t forget that you can stir in applesauce instead of pureeing apples for your smoothie.

Another, Let’s Go Heat, Let’s Feed Jetty, day!

My Triple Crown Day

Hey It’s Jet Here.

While no horse won the Triple Crown yesterday, (the contender horse got hurt and had to withdraw,) my day had triple terrificness!

First crown:  My young neighbor friend, Ruby, popped over to give lovies to JJ and me before dinner time. Mom then invited her to join us for our evening constitutional. Ruby just completed first grade and felt like she could hold on to JJ for the whole walk, which she did. She shared lots of fun stories, asked Mom lots of questions and even scooped my poop!

Which brings me to the second crown of the day… Ruby asked Mom if she could come in really fast (her parents needed her home) and give us our after constitutional treats. Mom said yes and mentioned that our special meaty bones were on the menu. Ruby thought having bones in the freezer was a weird idea, however, when she saw how excited we became, she reconsidered.

Third Crown: After JJ and I worked our gnawing magic on the bones, Mom invited us next to her on the couch for the HEAT game. She did her usual 30 minute tape delay for the first half and watched most of the second half, live.

During the second part of the fourth quarter, she clapped, cheered, wished, and screamed so much that I thought for a second, something might be wrong. When I barked to protect the family, she reached over and hugged me and told me to keep barking to cheer on the team! Huh? Ok! As the minutes and seconds ticked off, Mom kept telling the TV, “You can do it!” and told JJ and me to keep sending the HEAT our special good luck. By the end of the game Mom gave JJ and me a family hug and thanked us for doing our part to help the team become the Eastern Conference Champions.

We stayed up extra late to watch all the post game hoopla and interviews during which Mom hugged us more. She complimented the Celtics and told us what great champions and sportsmen they are, particularly Coach Doc Rivers and Mr. Ray Allen.

Mom said JJ and I can now cheer on our team for the final series against the Oklahoma City Thunder. We’ve already got our HEAT colors on … we’re ready for Game 1 on Tuesday night!

Another triple great day!

Wowee Wow Wow

Hey It’s Jet Here.

What a week we’ve had.  It started a little rocky with Monday’s Mischievous remote control, however, by midweek, Ish’s eggs were in the fridge, we found that cool swimming elephant picture and received The Sunshine Award from Savannah and the Liebster Award from my adopted, Little Sister, Poppy.  We absolutely LOVE sharing and passing the awards forward.

Mom’s week went well, too.  After six, yes SIX visits to the Division of Motor Vehicles, she finally received her new driver’s license yesterday.  (the issues were all paper and eyesight related, not driving test related, in case you were worried!)  She caught up on this stuff called bank reconciliations which made her face turn purplish on Monday.  She had three unexpected good things happen in Kitchen Counselor world. And… despite last night’s Heat/Celtic game results (congratulations Celtics, well played), so far, our Heaters are up 2-1 in the series.

JJ, Mom, and I had a few good things happen together.  We made three constitutional walks, two at night and one in the morning before or in between bands of horrendous downpours.  You know how um… uh… ok PETRIFIED I am about storms, so, we consider any time we can get out during this type of weather pattern a victory.

During our Tuesday evening constitutional, we noticed a beige, waterlogged little cutie running across a yard into the street.  Mom cajoled (vocabulary builder) it (him after further investigation) to join us.  Mom checked his tag and learned his name was Gizmo.  He looked like a pug wrapped in apricot poodle fur!  The tag only had a phone number and we left our phone home. He kind of looked like this except he had much curlier, poodle fur and he was missing an eye.

Mom rang the first bell and a nice lady (mortified of K9s) agreed to dial the number and then pass the phone to Mom.  We left a vm.  Mom, JJ, Gizmo and I rang 2 more bells until we learned from Miss Kitty at the 3^rd house she thought Gizmo belonged diagonally across the street.  We trekked over there and rang the bell.  A lady answered and confirmed Gizmo was hers.  She had looked and looked and needed a shower before looking more.

Mom told us how proud she was that we helped return a K9 to his loving family, creating a happy ending.

Another great week!

Thanks to Life With Dogs, Confessions of the Plume and Two Little Cavaliers for hosting the Saturday Blog Hop.

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Mischief Monday – No On, No Off

Hey It’s Jet Here.

Thanks to Alfie’s Blog, Snoopy’s Dog Blog, My Brown Newfies and Luna, A Dog’s Life…for sponsoring the hop!  Click on any of the sponsors to join the hop.

Mom, JJ and I frequently watch TV in Mom’s bed.  She has this thingie called a DVR which allows us to watch our favorite shows like The Dog Whisperer, Dogs 101, Tanked, as well as lots of Miami Heat games.  (If you’ve read our blog for awhile, you know Mom LOVES basketball.)  She says my handsome black fur is perfect for the Heat’s colors (red/black with a little white, orange and yellow thrown in.)  Oops, I digressed again.

Anyway, last week, when Mom felt ill, she recorded the Heat/Pacer game 6, thinking she would catch up when she felt better.  My human sister, Rachel, kept Mom company until she wanted to go to sleep.  Mom thought she would watch the game to distract her from her tummy discomfort.  She picked up the remote control and… nothing…  She pushed two buttons in sequence, just in case our paws had confused the remote, which happens on occasion.  Nothing… She called Rachel in to turn on the set manually, determined the tv made her feel worse, called Rachel in again to turn it off and decided to deal with the remote later.

The next afternoon, she tried again…nothing.  Once the tv went on manually, everything worked except ON/OFF and VOLUME.  Now here in the tropics, when the air conditioner goes on, you always need to increase the volume and vice versa when the cycle ends.  Also, those tricky TV people make the commercials louder than the programs.

Mom tried switching the batteries, switching the remote from the family room… nothing…

Mom’s TV will celebrate its 20^th birthday later this year, so, she appreciates the service it provides.  For now, we think the mischief belongs to the remote!!!

Another great, except for No ON/OFF, day.