"Stan the Man" November 21, 1920 – January 19, 2013

Credit: Getty Images

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 15: Baseball Hall of Fame member Stan Musial is presented with the 2010 Medal of Freedom by U.S. President Barack Obama during an East Room event at the White House February 15, 2011 in Washington, DC. Obama presented the medal, the highest honor awarded to civilians, to twelve pioneers in sports, labor, politics and arts. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Christmas Redux

Well, Flat Jake and Flat Just Harry may have spent a few night in the Christmas tree in St. Loulis while we were at camp.... but we got to make up for it when the Christmas boxes that were shipped from there on December 26 arrived home on January 3. That's how it works: we ship cool stuff there for the family and the family gives us cool stuff that we then ship home.

Coffee? Not my favorite!

 Nope!

 What else?
A map book for Dad?

 Anything for me? 

 Hmmm. Why Uggie and not Teka Toy????

 Now this might be more to my liking!

Squeaky and crunchy stuff??? 

Toys for us from our human brother and sister-in-law... and niece (she's only 7 months old but she's got the right idea!!!)

What's this? Mom says it's an anniversary present for her and Dad.

(December 28 was their twelfth anniversary.)

 OK, Here's one's for mom...who said it's one of the best books ever and recommends it to all of her human pals!!!

Where was Jake while all of this going on? Snoozing, of course, lately his favorite thing to do. But when he hears me squeak the sausage, I bet he'll come running!

A Sad Tale of Birthday Toys for the Boy(z)!

HOW IT WAS ON JANUARY 1, 2013 (AND HOW IT'S ALWAYS BEEN SINCE THAT FATEFUL DAY IN SEPTEMBER 2005)!

Hey Just Harry, I bet mom and dad got us new toys for my birthday!!!.

 What a cool Christmas Goose! It makes goosey honking sounds!!! Listen!

Gee, you;'re right, Jake. I think I'll just try it...

 Wow, goosey honking sounds....

 I like this!

  

I really like this.I think I'll keep it.

But what's that over there? It's a long-armed monkey!

You're right, Jake. A long-armed monkey!

It doesn't make goosey honking sounds, but it tastes good and it squeaks!!!

I like it, I really like it!!! I think I'll just keep it.

Oh well, there's always next year. Sigh.

 

Happy New Year! and Happy Eleventh Barkday to Me!!!!!!!!

 Yep, it's true. I am eleven years old today (in human terms). Born January 1, 2002.

Mom tells me that I am still the adorable puppy she fell in love with eleven years ago 

but that I seem to like snoozing a lot more than I did before 

and that I sometimes seem a bit, just a bit, grumpy. Dogdad tells me that he knows if I ask him to come see him, I will walk towards him and then turn in a circle and walk away. (So what else is new?)

Last night just before midnight, I wrote to a few of my friends and guess what...they all said they would be coming to visit around noon -- with the Boston Symphony Orchestra! I am sooooo excited! What a cool way to start off the new year!

Over the holidays, Just Harry and I had to spend a week at our favorite camp while the folks went on their annual St. Louis trek. They did take our flat selves, however, so it was kinda as though we were there. They got to see Gussie and Teka. 

And they got to spend a few nights on the Christmas tree.

 

Of course the folks had to visit the Cardinals store! 

The star of their Christmas, however, was none other than an adorable 7-month young lady who captivated everybody with her sparkly blue eyes, engaging smile, and sweet temperament -- our niece, Miss Olivia.   

 

We hope one day our real selves will meet her. 

Until then, Happy Happy New Year everybody!!!! We're hoping that our mom will have made a new year's resolution to help us blog a bit more so that we can stay in touch with all of you who mean so much to us!!!
So sayeth I, Jake, on this first day of 2013! 


(JH says Happy New Year too!)

Benched!

So here I am, trying to blog after a month or so and I discover that NEW BLOGGER has taken over and my mom isn't smart enough to figure out how to use it. Fortunately, she is smart enough to send out an APB to some of our good pals -- Gussie and Dexter and Laciecakes and Asta and Archie and Jake and Fergie and Taffy and Molly -- successful bloggers who don't seem to have any problems with it.  And, thanks to Asta -- the sweetest pupper who ever packed her bags to move to Buda Pest with her mommi and daddi where her mommi is painting up a storm -- and Gussie -- the smartest pupper who ever moved from state to state to state with his fambly but has remained an ardent Red Bird fan -- mom seems to have figured it out. Or not. This morning -- after giving up in frustration last night -- she kind of stumbled onto what was missing yesterday -- but will she find it again? Who knows.

In the meantime, what I want to show you is how my life has deteriorated. See my bench? It's a perfect bench. I can stretch out on it facing west and see what's going on outside. Or I can stretch out on it facing east and see what's going on inside. And it's just a woof away from mom's computer so we can exchange meaningful glances during the day while she's working.

But -- suddenly -- there's STUFF on my bench. Papers. Reports. Mom says it's because she and dad are working on a perfect storm of a project and have run out of flat surfaces to stow the STUFF. All I have to say is it's an intrusion on my property... It's not fair. This is one of my favorite spots...But, oh well, it's time for a nap.

So sayeth Jake! Got that NEW BLOGGER?????

Just Harry's Gotcha' Day!!!!

Time goes so fast, doesn't it? It seems like just yesterday that I met my soon-to-be brother at the home of the Truett's in Orlando. Alle and Jack, who are angels now, were there to meet me too. Once Jake and I had a nose-to-nose encounter, and everything seemed to be copasetic, off we drove to my new home in South Florida. That was then.

And here we are now. I'm kind of eightish, we think, and Mr. Jake is ten and three-quarters. We've learned that Dad cannot resist our wirey faces when he is in the kitchen having a snack. It just takes a bit of patience, and some doubling down.

A few barks always help too...

And more patience because we know he can't hold out much longer.

Yep, tonight it's PEANUT BUTTER ON CELERY!!!!

Looking back on the past seven years here, I think I'm a pretty fortunate dog. Jake is still kind of the alpha, but I've learned a lot from him. I've even learned that, when it comes to reminding Mom that it's dinner time, if I put my left ear up... like a mirror image of Jake... the food seems to come even quicker. (No pictures here -- but a few in a post a few below.)

For those of you who haven't been here before, if you click on September 10 posts from years before, you'll see that I've been loved and cherished and that I'm a much more confident dog than when I was rescued that fateful day seven years ago. Why I can even tolerate firecrackers on the fourth of July, when originally they made my legs go limp and my tail touch the ground.

It's all about love!!! LOVE!!!! And that's what we get every single day ... along with full tummies and squeaking toys (what's mine is mine and what's his is mine too), and treats (always equally shared unless it's a chew and I wait until Jakey drops his and then pounce)

Just Harry

PS to my friends in the UK: I was named after a certain prince who said once, when asked how he liked to be called, Harry, Just Harry!