Tater Tot Friday! So we had a party over the 4th of July holiday and thought it might be fun to set up the ol' croquet set for our guests. Well, besides the fact that our front yard grass was so long it was like trying to push the ball through molasses, there was another unforeseen obstacle.
Tater Tot insisted on chasing, catching and running away with every single ball that was in play. Thanks to blog reader and my actual brother John for sending me this picture he took of the Tot in action.
Here's another angle I got during the same game.
Tater Tot Friday Bonus Bulldogs! So I went to the store the other day to get a birthday card for our friend Marty who celebrated his latest yesterday. It seems that Hallmark has a contest running with pet photos on a line of their birthday cards and the public votes on which of the 67 finalists is their favorite. I saw two English Bulldogs among the choices.
First there is Rudy, sent in by Ashley Howe of Lawrenceberg, Indiana. "living with Rudy is like living with a cartoon character, " says Ashley.
The other is Daisy, owned by Susan Rodnite of Tampa, Florida. This photo was taken at Daisy's first birthday party.
You can see the others and vote if you care too here. Happy birthday Marty, and have a great weekend everyone!
I know it is T.T.F. but I thought you'd give at least a passing nod to 7-11 your home away from Denny's and the Post Office. I hear they're giving away free slurpees today "while supplies last."
BTW, no need to send me a royalty check for the photo. The Tot belongs to the world or vice-versa.
Posted by: brother john | July 11, 2008 at 04:40 AM
Don't all bitches like going after balls?
Posted by: LiLa | July 11, 2008 at 05:30 AM
That's a great picture of Tater!
Posted by: EditThis | July 11, 2008 at 07:30 AM
I didn't know that anyone under the age of 100 still played croquet...
Posted by: Stacey | July 11, 2008 at 08:56 AM
Great pics- I like the croquet rings as a slalom course
Posted by: db | July 11, 2008 at 09:22 AM
I notice that most of those pets looks like their owners just a bit in that contest link!
Happy 7/11 Day!
Posted by: Kelly | July 11, 2008 at 10:55 AM
Hot Dog!
It’s National Slurp-Day7-Eleven® Celebrates Friday, July 11, with Free Slurpee® Drinks, National Hot Dog Month with Big Bite® Meal Deal
First Frozen Monster Beverage Not Sold in a Can
DALLAS, (July 2, 2008) – It’s that time of year when the sun is hot and the Slurpee® drinks are free-zing – emphasis on the FREE part. July 11, aka 7/11, is the day that 7-Eleven, Inc., the world’s premier convenience retailer, celebrates its birthday and says “thank you” to its customers with free Slurpee drinks at participating stores. This year’s 7-Eleven® Day marks the company’s 81st birthday. Customers can pour their favorite Slurpee flavor in colorful, 7.11-ounce “Birthday” cups throughout the day, while cup supplies last.
7-Eleven is the home of the Big Bite® Oscar-Mayer all-beef hot dog and the number-one retailer of grilled hot dogs. And to celebrate National Hot Dog Month in July, participating 7-Eleven stores are offering a quarter-pound Big Bite hot dog and Big Gulp® drink for just $1.99 throughout the entire month, a real value at a time when consumers’ incomes may be stretched dog-gone thin.
But there’s more… New for July is the first ever Monster Energy Slurpee drink, called Black Ice. Black Ice is a black-colored energy Slurpee drink packed with a full load of Monster’s potent energy blend. This is the first frozen Monster beverage and the first variety not sold in a can.
“In appreciation of our loyal customer base, we started giving away Slurpee drinks on our 75th birthday in 2002,” said Jay Wilkins, 7-Eleven brand manager for Slurpee and Big Gulp® fountain drinks. “Customers thanked us, and we’ve been doing it ever since. Now July 11, or 7-Eleven Day, has become Customer Appreciation Day or try-your-favorite-Slurpee-on-us day.”
Viral marketing through the newly redesigned www.slurpee.com web site with its Slurpee Nation social network along with Slurpee street teams in select cities and store events across the U.S. play a big part in spreading the “7-Eleven Birthday/Customer Appreciation/Free Slurpee” message.
Every day is Slurpee Day in Kennewick, Wash., recently crowned the new Slurpee capital of the world, but on Free Slurpee Day, 7-Eleven Franchisee Don Marriotto expects his store to be swamped. “Even though we will be giving away free Slurpee drinks on 7-Eleven Day, July 11 also will be our biggest Slurpee sales day of the year,” he said. “We will have customers lined up outside waiting to get in the store and to the Slurpee machine to create their favorite frozen concoction.”
Marriotto’s number-one Slurpee-selling store offers 12 different flavors of the popular beverage, and he expects to have the local ABC-TV affiliate broadcasting from their store that birthday morning.
On the subject of celebrating birthdays, here are some favorite 7-Eleven milestones:
• Slurpee – 1967, 41 years. 7-Eleven actually began selling frozen carbonated drinks two years before coming up with the Slurpee moniker, named for the straw’s slurping sound.
• Big Bite – 1988, 20 years. Although 7-Eleven has been selling grilled hot dogs since the early 1970s, the Big Bite name was coined 20 years ago when Oscar Mayer created an exclusive spice formulation for the winning wiener.
• Big Gulp, Super Big Gulp, Double Gulp fountain drinks – 1976, 1983 and 1988; 32, 25 and 20 years, respectively. 7-Eleven was the first to introduce self-service soda fountains to Americans, which mirrored the success of its hot coffee in to-go cups.
• To-Go Coffee – 1964, 44 years. Coffee was 7-Eleven's first venture into the world of self-service beverages. It must have been a good idea. Today, most convenience retailers and quick-service restaurants offer some type of self-service beverages.
• Franchised Stores – 1964, 44 years. The same year 7-Eleven introduced hot to-go coffee on the East Coast, they looked to expand the 7-Eleven convenience chain to the West Coast with its first franchised, or owner-operated stores. California, the first state offering 7-Eleven franchises to individual entrepreneurs, today boasts more 7-Eleven stores than any other state. The company now offers franchising across the country, by making company-owned stores available to store managers, and negotiating with operators of other branded stores to bring them into the 7-Eleven retail family.
Convenience retailing began simply enough in 1927 when a Southland Ice Company employee started selling milk, eggs and bread from his ice dock in Oak Cliff, a suburb of Dallas. Since that inauspicious start, “convenience” has become a big business. The small ice company has grown into a major international retailing chain with more than 7,500 7-Eleven stores in the United States and more than 34,300 stores worldwide.
Posted by: Julius Marx | July 11, 2008 at 11:09 AM
I bet Tater Tot would LOVE bocci ball.
Posted by: Rochelle | July 11, 2008 at 12:39 PM
Bean, I am in love with you and your brother! I can't explain it. And of course, I love the Tot!
Posted by: Sil | July 11, 2008 at 04:44 PM
Hi! I'm Daisy's mom! Thanks for buying her card and promoting the contest. I'm really glad you enjoy the card! Daisy is currently in 2nd place and we are working hard to make it to 1st! If she wins, I am splitting the prize money ($1000) between Habitat for Humanity and Adopt-a-bulls Bulldog rescue. Please check out her facebook group or her myspace page for regular updates on the status of the contest:
http://www.myspace.com/daisydoodlebugg
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=13187947909&ref=ts
Posted by: Susan Rodnite | July 13, 2008 at 06:42 PM