Merry Blogmas

On Christmas morning we packed up and headed out to celebrate at the cousins' by Tampa.  The day was really nice so we scooted around on the golf cart and picked grapefruits and tangerines at Mary and Pat's and that really made everybody hungry.  At least everyone ate alot. We feasted on pork and sauerkraut, salmon, and all the fixings.  We even had homemade fruit cake all the way from Aunt Barbara's in Minnesota.  We couldn't have any but we heard it was actually good.  I thought a fruit cake was a person, like mama.  I never knew you could eat it.

Then we played and played with Spike and Joey and we were really tired so we all went to bed.  It got really windy during the nite and so the next day was not very nice.  Our people left us while they went exploring Anna Maria Island about 25 miles away.  It is a really cool little island with white sand and big beaches but it was a little too cool for skinny dipping.  Its a good thing cause we can't include that in the blog without a BEWARE warning.

So it was a really nice holiday and we were really tired when we got home yesterday afternoon.  Back to work around here, now where were we?  Happy tails, Mojo

PS, that's Spike watching a table leg, something he does for hours and hours.  I think he's a fruit cake.

Sodbusters

Forty-seven palms are now planted in the backyard along the fence line.  It was slow going cause all the sod had to be taken up before the plants could go in the ground.  We actually have a pix of mama working as a sodbuster.  You may want to save this one because this will probably never happen again. She was full of dirt, scratches and bites.  Dada did the heavy work with the shovel while mama pulled the sod up. This took a few days but the weather has been so nice here that we were able to play and run around the whole time they were out planting and/or busting.

So we have another Christmas surprise, hoping you can connect to the link below.  That's dada dancing. We are so proud of his moves.  I am not sure when they practiced or where they even got the outfits. They must be saving them for Christmas Day.  Christmas disco is back!!!  Happy Holidays and Happy tails, DeDe   PS-that's cousin Mary and Pat in the video with mama and dada, they're really good!!!

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/PpNNOyaVM5gS5oFAJpWC

What About Bob?

Yesterday we started the day by going to the flea market to see Bob.  Bob sells plants and we had ordered palms from him and we had to pick them up at the flea market on Friday morning.  The flea market is about half hour away.  Bob sells them at a great price and we needed lots of them to go along the fence in the back yard.  Since we are not allowed to do our business in the house, we would like some privacy in the back yard.  Is that asking too much?   We got 38 in the trailer.  It was slow going home.

Then Mama was out this morning again and we just had a feeling she would be scoping out garage sales.  It is Saturday and that's the day the signs appear.  Anyway, she found a moving sale and it was swarming with people at 8 on a Saturday morning.  What is wrong with these people?  Don't they know Sat mornings are for sleeping in.  When mama stopped, she saw two ceiling fans in boxes never opened.  These were the exact ones she saw at Lowes and really liked.  The owner wanted $150 for both but dada thought that was too much so he told mama to go back and offer $100 for both and the guy took it!!!  And so mama checked Lowes' website after she bought them and they were selling the exact same fans for $150 each so she saved $200 in less than an hour of being out of bed this morning.  She is amazing!!!!  And she tells dada how lucky he is all the time.  I don't think he would call it luck, more like stuck.  Happy tails, Mojo

Don't Fence Me In

Its been a cool couple of days here, lots of warnings about citrus freezing.  Who cares?  What's a citrus anyway?

Anyway, dada finally got the fence out of the stump and got the stump out of the backyard.  Then there was lots and lots of discussion about what kind of fence to put back there and it had to be done quickly because without a fence, we are GONE.  At least I am, Mojo is such a scarity cat, she would just run back into the house.  After lots of talking, blah blah blah, they finally decided just to put back the chain link fence.  I could have made that decision in about 2 minutes but again, no one asked me.  So one side is done, the other side should be done tomorrow, that side will have a gate so with any luck it will be left open for an easy get away.  Where I would go, I have no idea.

I was in the car the other day minding my Ps & Qs and saw the map folded incorrectly.  If mama could ever fold a map, it would be a miracle.  Anyway, I was really bored so I thought I would give it a try and as you can see, I got a little frustrated and ate the middle. It wasn't bad, kinda tasted like chicken.  Happy tails, DeDe

Bye Bye Bougainvillea

Now we are working on the backyard.  One pix is out back on the corner of the fence next to our neighbor's house.  The bougainvillea growing there looked like it had never been trimmed and was about 20 feet across and 15 feet high.  It had lots of nice flowers but we knew it needed to come down.  Problem is it is full of thorns.  Dada is full of scratches and cuts, mama not so much. After seeing Dr. Oz talk about the top 10 ear wax warning signs, she was pretty busy. The next pix shows how a tree trunk next to the bougainvillea grew right threw the chain link fence.  Wonder how we're going to get that out.  Oh well, not my problem.

Then there's Keith and his live-in girlfriend's son, Jimmy.  We found them on Craigslist of course. They came over to get the aluminum shades from the linae out back along with the gutters dada pulled off the house and a satelite dish off the top of the house.  They can get money for the aluminum I guess.  Keith really needs it, he goes thru women like water.  He was telling us that his live-in girlfriend is really not his girlfriend at all, she just won't leave.  He has a new girlfriend now.  I didn't think a guy could have more than one girlfriend at a time.

Our Auntie Anita in Minnesota said they got a foot of snow yesterday and if we had to go out there to do our business, we would get lost for sure.  I'm getting a box ready to send DeDe back to find out right now. Happy tails and stay warm up north.  Mojo

Before and After

The front yard landscaping is coming along nicely, I think there are plenty of places to do our business out there and it will blend right in. We helped pick out the rock with that in mind. That's between me and Mojo.

Dada is so happy when he is shoveling. Why is he so happy when he shovels rock? This is a mystery to me and Mojo.

Anyway, there is a pix of the front of the house when we bought it last January and a pix of the front of the house now after Dada got done shoveling and Mama came out from hiding. If shoveling is so much fun, why does she always hide? People don't make any sense.

Keith the junk recycler came and picked up the old stove and dishwasher today. We still have a toilet Dada pulled out of a bathroom in the garage if anyone is interested in that and you definitely need a blowtorch and gas mask to clean that bad boy up. Happy tails, Dede

The Price is Right

Mama really likes garage sales, yard sales, estate sales, moving sales, anything sitting outside that isn't fastened down seems to really get her attention.  The other morning she was going out for her run and Dada got real worried because she was gone for at least 5 minutes longer than usual.  Anyway, she finally limped back and yelled at Dada, get the trailer, get the trailer, I found the most greatest yard sale and they are holding all kinds of stuff for us.  The last time I saw her this happy was when she found some M&Ms in the bottom of her purse.  Anyway, Dada hooked up the trailer and they came back with it full.  Didn't see anything for me.  Again.  Dada asked Mama why she went to a sale and she told Dada she didn't want to go but when she saw it her feet just went that way. I think she has a problem.

And if its not garage sales, then its Craigs list, Mama is forever looking for stuff for the house on there.  She never looks for dog stuff, just house stuff . WTF???  Anywho, she found a stove, microwave, and dishwasher just like the ones in Minnesota and what a deal.  Bob, who was selling the appliances buys foreclosured homes and sometimes has extra stuff when he remodels.  He told us that after this next remodel, he is leaving for the Phillipines because he just wants to disappear.  I didn't know that people disappear there, I wonder if dogs do too?  Then I think DeDe should get on the next plane.  Kind of cool here again, I'm going back to bed. Happy tails, Mojo

PS - anyone want a free nasty stove and dishwasher, come with lots of steel wool or a blow torch.

Tres Trees

Its been a busy week here with all the landscaping.  This is pretty boring for me because I don't do anything except sit on the couch and look outside while Dada is out there digging holes or pulling stuff out of the ground.  I am not sure why he takes stuff out just to put other stuff in.   If he asks me, I'll mention he might want to leave everything alone and save himself some work.  I'm waiting for him to ask me.

Early in the week we had 3 big trees delivered and installed.  Mama asked the guys who came if she could get a picture for her "diary".  These guys mostly spoke Spanish and she thought blog was too complicated to explain.  They really didn't know what to think of this, I don't think anyone ever asked them for a picture before.

Today some guys are coming to put some curbing around the trees and then Dada will start working on a patio out front.  It will sure look different here from when we came.  I wonder if we can put a couple of paw prints in the patio cement.  I think I'll sneak out and do that and if Dada gets mad, I'll just blame little miss perfect Mojo. I would love to see her get yelled at.

We have some really light carpet in the house and Dada bought this really loud thing for Mama to clean it.  I hide under the bed when she gets that thing out and Mojo runs from room to room to get away from it.  I guess its called a vacuum and I never saw Mama use one of those things before.  She doesn't really like it, in Minnesota she uses this thing called a broom or as Dada says, her transportation.  Not sure what that means either but Mama just waves a finger at him when he says that.  Happy tails, DeDe

PS, kind of cool today, mid 60s, I need to find my blanket.

Who Gives a Hoot????

You forgot two of the most important things that happened on Sunday, silly.  We went on our first shopping trip INTO Home Depot. Its kind of hard to see the prices from the cart but if we stare long enough, one of us can make them out.

And then the Vikings played Washington and won on Sunday.  Of course, that meant a trip to Hooters, we're never invited to that.  How come owls can go there but dogs can't?  That just doesn't make sense.

Apparently, they put bags of ice into the pitchers of beer so they had to get a pix of that with some Hooters girl.  I think we're cuter.  Happy tails, DeDe

Iguana Mama and Richard

Well its official - we finally have a mailbox so you can start sending me dog biscuits, bones, anything chewable would be fine.  Dada had his heart set on a dolphin mailbox but after doing some price checking, it was not looking too good.  Sometimes he thinks he's Donald Trump.

In the meantime, we had lots of brush to get rid of and stumps to grind so we had Richard come over with his equipment on Saturday and in the 85F degree heat, they got it done.  Dada looked like a tomato face he was so red. Dada mentioned to Richard that he was looking for a mailbox and we found out that Richard used to do woodcarving and that he had some pieces he wanted to get rid of.  Well that's all it took, we were there the next morning at daybreak. That's a pix of Richard sitting on alligators that he carved.  He had stuff all over the place and after a lot of pacing and talking, they finally decided on the manatee.  The dolphin Richard had was about 10 feet high, a little much, even for Donald Trump.

When we were looking around, Richard's iguana was sitting on a board.  It was really big. Mama thought it was something he carved out of wood until it moved and you should have heard her scream.  I think she peed in her pants alittle too.   You notice those things when you are always looking up. It was pretty funny, everybody knows you can't carve iguanas out of wood. Duh.  Happy tails, Mojo

Turkey Day 2010

Well we made it thru our first major holiday here in our house in Florida.  For once, we outnumbered people and I'm not sure if this is a good thing.  Waiting for falling food is much more competitive.

We watched as the people made the meal that was bought from a store and just needed to be warmed up.  This should have been easy but using a stove that has burners sitting at a 90 degree angle and a questionable oven made it challenging.  It was about 85F in the house at the time we were cooking. Oh yea, we don't have AC either so by the time dinner was done Mama and Mary looked like they just got out of a shower.  They tried wiping the sweat off their faces before it got on their food.  They really didn't need the added salt. Pat used the plastic dish drain for a cutting board, someone forgot the cutting board.

As you can see from our photo, I was trying not to stare but look at who we're dealing with here.  They act like animals, it went from wrestling, to running, to barking, hiding, more wrestling, barking, etc.  I think our people wanted to keep us locked outside.

Hope you all had a happy holiday, now what's cooking for Christmas and are those nuts going to be there too?    Happy tails, Mojo

Junk in the Trunk

Watching Dada saw down trees and shrubs in front of the house is keeping Mojo and me pretty entertained.  It was hot today (11/23/10) so we were happy to be inside watching from the back of the couch out the picture window.  The big tree on the side of the house was all cut down and a big mess so Mama was out there dragging brush to a big pile so the garbage guys could come pick it up.

Well there was also a big tree trunk in the middle of the front yard.  We found out from a neighbor that a hurricane in 2005 broke that tree in half so the previous homeowner decided to leave it up and put some red plastic flowers on the top.  There was all kinds of overgrown bushes around the fake flower tree. So Dada decided to saw that down next.  The wood was just rotten and the trunk was about 6 feet high with rope wrapped around it. It was extremely ugly and we all hated it.

So he's sawing and sawing and Mama is dragging brush around and all of a sudden this gray piece of fur jumps out the trunk he is sawing down.  Well I haven't seen Mama move that fast ever.  Dada starts chasing this gray thing around the yard with a running chain saw and Mama is screaming and jumping around.  We thought maybe Mama found a coupon for Hardees or something in her pocket she was so excited.

So Dada finally chased the gray thing down the street with the chain saw with Mama running behind yelling something about a picture for the blog.  We thought it was a big fat rat but Dada  said it was a possum living in the dead tree trunk. We were sniffing that just the other day!!!  YUCK.  I have never met a possum that I liked.

Long story short, Mama ran across the possum taking a nap just down the street this morning (11/24/10).  I guess homeless possum just sleep anywhere but its pretty strange it just lays there without moving.  Happy tails, DeDe

Let Me Stand Next to your Fire Ants

Well its been a pretty quiet first full weekend here in Florida.  After watching Dada take half of the big tree down outside, things just went downhill from there.  That was the excitement of the weekend, we thought maybe the Vikings game on Sunday would be exciting but forget about it.  We think Brett needs to be bit.

Anywho, Dada apparently got into a fire ant nest when he was cutting down the tree and he is full of bites.  He was pretty worried about them last nite so he tried to go on the internet to find out if he might die from them. Well he picked a very bad time to do that because Mama's show was on.  She loves Amazing Race, why we don't know.  There are no dogs on that show so what's the point?  And she has a real problem with staying awake for her shows because the only TV is in the bedroom and as soon as she lays down to watch TV, she falls asleep.  Of course, she blames Dada for this problem.  So it is a big deal when she actually stays awake for a show.  So after a short nap, she woke up to her show and she does not like to be bothered when her show comes on so as Dada was trying to figure out if he would die from fire ant bites, Mama was busy watching her show and couldn't be bothered.

Dada was getting pretty worried about death by fire ants so towards the end of Mama's show she finally got up, looked at the computer and told him he won't die from fire ants but if he keeps pestering her during her shows, he might die from something else.  We are not sure what that is.

Tuesday nite is Biggest Loser, another fav show and I hope Dada doesn't come up with another disease to check.  We need to get some rest around here.  Happy tails, Mojo

PS - who says I'm a bitch???  Just because I'm a female dog, come on, I share.  See photo-op.

Trees and Rugs

Well we just watched a big tree fall over in the front yard - WTF?? Dada had his chain saw out and thought he was Hercules or something and started cutting this GIn-ormas tree down in the front. I watched from the window - I don't want none of that. Mojo is in the new bed Mama got for us, does she know what the word "share" means???? I hate her.

Anyway, the house is starting to look like a home - Dada rented a carpet cleaner yesterday and cleaned all the carpets for us. When you are so low to the ground like us, you smell everything and it really stank, not sure, but it was most likely really old people and Depends leakage. Not real appetizing especially when our dog dish sat right on it.

And then we heard the chain saw out the front window this afternoon and there he was, chopping down this HUGE tree that was hanging over the front of the house. We even had plants growing out of the gutter once we got the tree down and saw plants up there. I just watched from the window so I wouldn't have to help, Mojo laid in the new bed by herself. She can be such a bitch.

But now we have a new King size bed that we all share, no one is falling out but the snoring is bad as ever. I'm thinking about laying on Dada's face tonite, its a win-win, no snoring and I like how the vibrations feel. Not sure what that's about. I'm too young to tell. Happy tails, DeDe

TGIF Craigs List

Well we finally got water which means we have toilets now. Both were in pretty bad shape, in fact, one has to go out the door altogether. The blue toilet did work after some coaxing so no more pee fests outside.

Our peeps really needed a frig, especially to keep our treats cold, so we found one on Craigs List for $100 from a guy named Dave and his dog Joanie. She was nice but kind of wild. Dave was a great guy, helped put the frig on the trailer and off we went, slowly back home. We made it home but getting it off the trailer was tricky and into its spot in the kitchen was even more tricky. Dada had to bang on a cabinet to fit it in. Now we just need more treats to put in it.

Then we found a washer and dryer from a guy named Joe who was storing the pair for his ex-wife but got sick of taking care of them and so decided to sell the pair. I don't think his ex-wife knows they're gone yet. I watched DeDe poop right on Joe's yard when he wasn't looking but he had a dog too so we decided to blame her if he asked any questions about poop. He didn't.

Dada sure was tired then, we all went to bed on the air mattress again, still no bed and between Dada's snoring and Mama rolling off the side of the air mattress, it is hard to get a good nite's sleep. I think we could have started a lawn mower next to Dada and we wouldn't have even noticed. There is a noise ordinance here we may have to check on.

Anyway, we are happy to have a frig and can wash clothes now. What's next? Happy tails, Mojo.

We Made It

Left Alabami at about 8 am yesterday (11/16/10) and entered Florida about 8:30 am. It was a long drive thru Florida, not so rainy but just a long time in the car. We were getting pretty bored with the drive but our people just kept saying we're almost there. They are such liars!!! We were not almost there, do we look dumb? I know DeDe does.

Got to the house about 7 pm and the house was pretty much just as we left it, empty.
People started to unload the car and trailer, we had electricity but no water. We couldn't get the valve opened on the street, it was dark and the valve was stuck, so the people brushed their teeth with water they drained from the cooler and we got some drips from a water bottle found in the car. We were able to go potty out back and so did our people, there is no water so we all peed outside together. Question: How come its ok for our people to pee outside but if we try to pee inside where they do they go nuts. Some things just don't make a lot of sense.

Next we blew up the air mattress, put down some sleeping bags and all fell on the mattress and slept like rocks, its quiet here, we had fans to keep us cool and we all peed. What more could you ask for? Happy tails, Mojo.

Sweet Home Alabami

Arrived at the Quality Inn on Sunday nite (11/14/10) in Oak Grove, KY about 6 pm. This is right near the state line with Tennesee. Mary and Pat camped right next to hotel in a construction zone with their 3 dogs. Got a little cold at nite. We slept great. Got to Tennessee Monday morning about 8:45 and planning to drive thru TN into Alabama today.

We spent the whole day (11/15/10) in the car and it rained all day, sometimes really really hard so the drivers were really getting tired of it and we decided that Dothan, AL was a good place to stop about 6 pm. This is considered the Peanut Capital of the World. We don't eat peanuts. Why can't we ever stop at the Dog Treat Capital of the World? Its all about them.

Mary and Pat knew the area and found a LaQuinta right off the highway where dogs are welcomed, no extra charge and it was by far the nicest place we stayed so far, so nice that when Mary and Mama went in to check on rooms and rates, Dada was convinced it was too expensive and yelled at Mama that we were leaving before she could even tell him it was cheapest of the three hotels we stayed at so far cause Mama had a coupon and there was no extra charge for us!!! So after some tense moments in the car and hotel, Dada realized that he was wrong again and Mama was right again. This happens all the time.

After a nice dinner at Chili's right outside the hotel, we all cuddled into bed. Mary and Pat wanted to cuddle in the bed too but we sent them back to their motorhome outside the hotel to their three little monsters.

Tuesday morning (11/16/10) we left Dothan about 8:00 am and arrived in Florida at 8:15, so far the weather is cloudy but at least no rain. Will we get to our house tonite and sleep on our own floor? Stay tuned, happy tails, DeDe

Moving On Thru Illinois

Nov 14 2010

Took off from Mary and Pat's this morning at 8:30 after Pat made the people a HUGE breakfast and we stared at them eating. We tried so hard to look cute and pitiful to get a morsel. It worked.

Mary and Pat have a place in Florida too so we are following them in their new motorhome with their three dogs, those three are nuts!!! We had quite a time with them yesterday when we got to their house, they barked so much we couldn't hear ourselves bark so we just had to bark louder and then they had to outdo us and so on and so on. People in the house were yelling something but we couldn't hear them. After lots of barking, growling, nipping, and sniffing, we finally settled down and realized that they are just as spoiled as we are, maybe more. They get bottled water, we get ours from the outside, the faucet. What is up with that? They each have their own food bowl, we have to share, another WTF? We need to talk.

Cousins Bob and Carol came over for pizza and fun last nite, but they didn't even bring their three dogs. We haven't see them in forever. We had another good nite sleeping and we're off for more adventure today. Oh no, just saw a cop on the side of the road and we slammed on the brakes, we almost fell off our beds in back. Can you calm down up there??? Happy trails, Mojo.

Leaving Snow State

Friday, Nov. 12, 2010

Lots of commotion today - first we watched as mama cleaned out the frig and freezers, packed all our food, and actually cleaned out her car. She found so much food in her glove compartment we could have lived on it for several weeks but most of it was pretty hard and moldy. She even vacuumed out her trunk and could close it without sitting on it. Then dada came home and said we better go today cause a big snow storm was on its way and we would have to drive right thru it on Sat. if we waited so then there was really lots of commotion, closing up the house, dragging plants thru the house to go to Florida, and packing the car. We finally left at 4:30, right before dark.

We drove for five hours in the rain and dark with our new trailer packed for Florida. It was slow going and we weren't sure where we would end up but we finally pulled over in Mauston, WI at the Super 8. After checking if we could stay with our people at the hotel, we got the ok and got into our room right after 9:30. Dada checked for bedbugs immediately and finding none, we all got into bed and woke up to rain and cold. Super 8 used to be a cheap place to stay, NOT.

Mauston, WI is near the Wisconsin Dells and has a population of 3,500. There is a really nice bike trail here that people come to use called the Elroy Sparta Bike Trail, about 30 miles long with tunnels, too bad we didn't bring bikes this time. Another NOT.

We left Mauston about 8 am for Mary and Pat's in Oswego, IL. Dada saw a sign for Cruisin Chubby's Gentlemen's Club and wanted to stop. We couldn't figure it out, he's not that chubby and what fun is a place where all the guys are fat??? Happy trails, DeDe.

Florida Here We Come

Hi, I'm Mojo and I am writing the blog this year for our people. We call them Mama and Dada because they started all that long ago. They treat us like little kids so we just go along with it because if we are cute and don't poop in the house, we get treats.

We are finally leaving on Saturday for our house in Cape Coral, Florida. Because the weather has been so nice here in Minnesota and there is all this stimulus money for projects in Minnesota, Dada had to work longer than we thought but he finally got the word that he is done on Friday, Nov. 12th, so we are leaving Minnesota for the winter.

Our first stop is Illinois to see Cousin Mary, her love muffin Pat, and their three little ones (dogs), Spike, Joey and their newest addition, Margarita, which came to Pat in a dream. I'm not sure if he was sober when he was dreaming this or if he was even asleep, but he was convinced by a dream that they needed a third dog. I am sure we'll be dodging those three when we visit this weekend. They can be so annoying, chasing us, barking, sniffing our butts, and of course we have to sniff theirs back just to be polite. Its only right.

After our stop in Illinois, we will head down to Florida, not sure which way we are going or how many stops there will be. Our people pulled out the map last nite to figure out our route and that didn't go well. It seems like they are not able to agree and we haven't even gotten in the car yet. I hope this doesn't affect our treat ratio. Happy trails, Mojo.

PS - Mama had her 2nd farewell lunch with BFFs and didn't even bring home a doggie bag - WTF?