Disappointing News

We found out today that we are not going to get the log cabin. We are very disappointed. Mama and Daddy visited it again yesterday and they told us all about the yard and how many dog toys were left behind. We were not surprised when our agent called and told us that our offer was rejected. We expected that to happen, but we planned on making another offer. The reason it was rejected is because the bank has decided to fix up the house with new flooring, paint and an appliance or two. They will let us buy it for the same price they are offering now, but we have NO say in any of the flooring, paint or appliances. We don't even know if the appliances will be new. We wanted to be put hardwood floors in most of it and Daddy says not having a say on anything is unacceptable. Why do they want to do all that work when they can sell it to us minus the cost of that work? We don't understand it at all. We are very disappointed right now. Daddy said we may make one more offer to them and then let it go. Our agent said they were pretty set on doing the work, so it's probably a waste of our time. There are no other houses that we are interested in right now. Mama said as much as she liked that house, she had a feeling that it wasn't going to work out. She is really sad and now we are sad, too. The right house is out there. We just have to find it.

We went to the park today and walked through the campground. It's not the same park by our old house. It's another one that we have camped at though. It was a little chilly, but we had fun.

We are supposed to get a major storm starting tomorrow. Monday is supposed to be light freezing rain. Tuesday is heavy freezing rain with maybe thunder freezing rain and then Wednesday, it's supposed to snow. They are predicting 6"-15" of snow. YIKES! Mama is nervous about all the ice.

Mama said I should tell everyone that even though she is eating Chinese food and pizza, I am only getting a bite or two. I still have to eat dog food. I don't think it's fair, but Mama says life isn't fair.

Jack
The Greyhound Who Will Not Be Living In A Log Cabin Afterall

Saturday .....Finally

We have had a very long week. Daddy was in Texas all week and Mama had a lot of frustrating things happen. We survived though and now it's the weekend! Honestly, I don't know why I get so excited about weekends because Mama and Daddy usually leave us during the day. You would think I would sleep while they are gone, but I don't. I have to stay awake and watch for them. I get so excited when they come home and then finally, I can go to sleep.

We still have snow here, but we are able to get around a lot better. The weather people are getting all excited about another storm that is headed our way. They are saying we might get ice and there could be power outages! Yikes! We hope they are wrong about it.

Oh, and just in case you are wondering, while Daddy was in Texas, we had Chinese food and then it was pizza, pizza and more pizza.

Jack
The Greyhound Who Is Sleeping In This Morning

Wordless Wednesday - Peaceful

It's A Slick Monday

We only received about an inch or so of snow yesterday. We were told it could be 3"-5" or maybe more. We were pretty depressed most of the weekend after having nearly a foot last Thursday. We are doing better getting our business done in the snow so that is making for a much happier home with Mama.

This morning, we have some ice on the sidewalk. The hotel has been very good at keeping the sidewalks clear, so we are hoping they will put more salt down this morning. We haven't seen any workers this morning, so maybe they are stuck on the roads getting here. Traffic is moving quite slow in our area.

Mama and Daddy found a house that they really, really like. They are going to put an offer on it this week. It's a foreclosure so they will be dealing with the bank. The bank wants more money for it than Daddy is willing to pay though, so we have to see if we can reach common ground. Mama says that all the flooring has to be replaced before we can see it. She said it is really nasty. Daddy said except for it needing paint and floors, it's in good condition. Eventually, they would put in a new counter top in the kitchen and buy new appliances, but we could live with it until we have the money for that stuff. The funny thing is that Daddy wanted a low maintenance home and this is not, but it is what he has always wanted. It's a log cabin!!! I really don't know what that is, but Mama says it's rustic like our old place and it feels like a home to her instead of just a house. However, we can't get excited yet because we have to see if the bank will work with us on the price.

Daddy is on a business trip this week. He's in Texas. It's warm there. He's lucky. :::sign:::

Jack
The Greyhound Who Has Cabin Fever

I Need Grass!

This snow is driving me crazy. There is no place to do my business. Mama cleared out a path for me by our patio, but I don't like it. Then, she made me a path where I normally walk, but I don't like that either. She was driving me crazy yesterday telling me to do my business. I can't do my business when the snow is so deep. Last night around 8:30, I told them that I had to go outside and they got all excited. I finally found a good place to do my "small" business and they cheered. It made me forgot that I needed to do my "big" business. Scout ticked me off because she came up and kissed me and I told her to back off. I got in trouble for that, but the folks need to understand that I'm under a lot of pressure right now. So, we went back into the room and at 9:00 p.m., I told them I needed to do my "big" business. Mama wished me luck as I headed out with Daddy. I was greeted with hugs and kisses when Daddy announced that I had accomplished my goal. You know what the most embarrassing thing is about all of this? It's that Scout is doing better than I am with doing the "business" in the snow. I'm usually the KING of doing the business and now I have been passed up by Scout. :::sigh::: I hope today is better.

More snow is predicted for Sunday. :::sigh:::

Jack
The Greyhound Who Really Wants His Yard Back

It's Happened Again

We woke up this morning to more snow. This is the most so far this year. We think we have about a foot here. We could get a few more inches. I know the pictures look the same as the ones we took last week or whenever we had our last storm but they are new pictures. It seems like it snows all the time here. We've been here four weeks today and it has snowed at least three times.

Mama took us out separately this morning because she said she didn't feel like both of having a bad reaction to the snow at the same time. We will have to go out again in a little while and then we will probably stay in until late afternoon. We really dislike walking in the snow and the sidewalks don't get cleared once you leave the hotel area, so it's hard to walk around.

Daddy is out shoveling snow this morning. He does work for this hotel and they said they would give us a few free nights if he helped them clear the snow. Mama told him to be careful because he's not as young as he used to be. He told her to quit nagging him. :::sigh:::

Spring can come early this year as far as we are concerned.

UPDATE: We just returned from a walk. We both refused to do our BIG business as Mama calls it. The only place we could walk are in the tire marks in the parking lot. Mama said it was okay to do it there, but we are not that desperate YET. We've been watching the snowplow in the parking lot next to us. It looks like an interesting job. You just go back and forth. A snowplow hasn't hit our parking lot yet. We didn't see Daddy while we were outside, but we saw four snow shovels parked in front of the Gatehouse. They must be fueling up on coffee.

Jack and Scout
The Greyhounds Who Are Depressed Over More Snow

Wordless Wednesday - Ready For Spring

Jack and Scout
The Greyhounds Who Are Dreaming Of Warmer Weather

House Hunting Update

The house that Mama was so excited about turned out to be a dud. It was beautiful in 2006, but the next owners decided to be creative and really messed it up. Daddy said it would take about $40,000 to get it back in shape. We would have to do several things before we would even be able to get an occupancy permit. We are passing on that house.

They did look at another house that they are still interested in. It's out of our price range, but not dramatically. Mama says she doesn't like it enough to take a loan out for it, but if they willing to take what we have in cash, then she would buy it. It needs new flooring, paint and eventually a new kitchen. Daddy said he would move the laundry room upstairs and also do some other work to make it where we would all like it. It has a huge yard and it's already fenced. Daddy said it meets all of our requirements, but they don't love it. Daddy said he needs a structural engineer to come out because there has been problems with a basement wall and he's really concerned about that. They haven't made an offer yet because they are still thinking on it and Daddy is going to be out of state next week and will be hard to reach for any negotiations. I think if it's still available and nothing else comes along, they will make an offer when Daddy gets back.

The hotel was busy with guests who were in a hockey tournament last weekend. We had lots of boys running around here making noise. They were pretty nice though and petted Scout and I.

We had Chinese food delivered on Sunday night. We enjoyed that.

It's supposed to snow tomorrow night. We really do not like walking in the snow, so we are not happy about it.

I guess that is about all that is going on here. It's a gloomy day, so Scout and I are going to nap while Mama works.

Jack
The Greyhound Who Is Tired Today

Upstair Neighbors

(Scout relaxing at our old place in 2010)

We had some people move into the room above us yesterday. We are not happy. They are noisy. It sounds like they are stomping around. They are moving furniture and slamming doors. People should be allowed to live above you. It's just not right! It's making us very nervous. We hope they are short-term people and not extended stay people like us.

Mama and Daddy are going to the RV show today. It's a tradition for them. Daddy likes to look and Mama likes to pick up travel information that she never looks at again.

There is a house that just became available that Mama is excited about. The agent sent her photos of it went it was listed in 2006. It was beautiful. It should still be beautiful, right? Well, it's a foreclosure and they are learning that it doesn't take long for a home to go from beautiful to nasty. The pictures on the Internet look good, but there's not any photos of the kitchen which is making Mama wonder because in 2006, it looked nice and why wouldn't they post photos of the kitchen if is still looked nice? Mama and Daddy have been talking about it a lot on the phone and Daddy seems to think the air conditioning is missing. He saw something in a photo that makes him think that. That can't be good. The house has a huge yard and a parking spot for the RV. It's in a nice area and it's in our price range. It seems almost perfect. We are keeping our paws crossed that this is the one. They are probably going to drive by it today and then see it with the agent tomorrow.

Jack,
The Greyhound Who Doesn't Like People Walking On His Ceiling

CG Magazine

We were so busy with our big move that we forgot to mention that we were in the Winter Issue of the CG Magazine. This photo was taken in 2007, we think. Mama used it for our Christmas card that year.

Jack and Scout
The Greyhounds Who Pose For Treats

Wordless Wednesday - Bed Fail

Snow Day!

It snowed last night. We don't know how much. Mama doesn't have a ruler. It's probably 2" to 3". Here is the view from our front window. We have our own fire hydrant. See it in the photo?

Here is the view from our patio door.

We went out around 5 a.m. We saw our first snow plow and it scared us.

Last night, the pizza man came. Yes, we are really starting to like this city living. We have leftovers for today. Yummy!

Mama was happy yesterday because we finally got mail. She had just called the post office to see if anything was waiting for us back home, but he said nothing was there. We had only received two things in two weeks. We used to get mail every day. Yesterday, we received several things including Mama's paycheck and our new coats. We like our new coats. They are not the heavy duty kind, but fleece ones. They fit really nice and we think they will suit us for our activities. Scout even got excited when she tried hers on and normally she doesn't like to wear anything.

Mama did something silly yesterday and now her glasses are scratched. She was closing the drapes in our room and the rod that you use to pull the drapes somehow fell behind Mama's glasses. I know, it's hard to imagine, but it happened. Mama didn't think anything of it until she sat down at the computer and she thought she had a long hair stuck to her glasses. She then discovered it's a long scratch right down the middle of the lens. She's really upset about it because she needs her glasses to read. She does not know if the scratch can be fixed, but said she will check into it.

Jack
The Greyhound Who Has Snow Today

Room Service - Sort Of

(Jack hanging out at the old house.)

After Mama and Daddy got home from house hunting, they debated what to order to eat. This city living is definitely different than our old home. Mama cooked about 97% of the time at home and here it's like 50/50. They debated between Chinese food or pizza. Mama decided to give the Chinese food a try. I was more excited over the Chinese food than the pizza we had last week. It smelled so good when it arrived. Mama ordered Cashew Chicken-fried and the sauce came separate, so Mama gave us each a piece of the chicken. Yummy! We tried the fortune cookies and Scout liked them, of course. Scout likes almost everything. I, however, do not prefer sweets and spit mine out. Mama was very happy with the food and said we are definitely ordering from them again. Yeah!

The house hunting did not go well. There was one that Mama said she had high hopes for and it had a huge yard. They discovered that it was a mobile home and modular home put together. Daddy does a lot of research on the homes before they look at them and he found one site that said it was a mobile home. They couldn't figure out how it could be because it looked like a regular house. Mama said it was really nice looking and it was huge. It was almost too big for us since we are downsizing. It needed some repairs, such as a new roof. Anyway, once Daddy and the agent figured out it must be two homes put together, red flags went up. (The big tip off was the heat registers went down the center of the floor in one section - which would be the mobile home part. Also, Daddy said the bathtub was definitely a mobile home bathtub.) The agent told them that they would need to find the tag number that is on all all mobile homes when they re-sell it. That could be a problem because it was completed sided. Since we are cash buyers, it's not an issue for us, but it could be a big problem later on. Daddy was also concerned about how everything was connected together and it just seemed like it could be a big problem. The resale value of it is questionable. It's been on the market for quite a while and maybe other people have figured out the problem, too. Mama was disappointed because she said it had almost everything we wanted, especially a huge yard, but she needs to think with her head and not her heart.

They looked at another house that Mama said was okay, but there wasn't a way to get us to the backyard without going down steps or having to go out the front and then around to the backyard. Mama wants to be able to open a door and let us out. She said she is not ready to just settle for a house yet.

We are still considering one of the homes that they looked at on Friday. Mama says that one is looking more and more promising, but there is something up with that one too. The agent is not responding to our agent with the questions we have. Mama had actually called that agent about a month ago about the same house and he was really rude to her. I guess selling homes is not a priority to him.

We are supposed to get snow later today. Daddy is headed out of town, so we are on our own for the week. Mama said we will order pizza and just hang out together.

(Scout in the snow in 2008.)

Jack
The Greyhound Who Likes Chinese Food

Weekend Update

Mama and Daddy went house hunting on Friday. They looked at five and said that only one is still on their list. Mama said three of the homes were foreclosures and while they are not afraid of foreclosures, these were terrible. The house they bought in 1990 was a foreclosure and it was not in bad shape. It was just outdated. It had wallpaper in the living room that had dead trees on it. Mama said the house was built in the 70's and it was still in the 70'w when they bought it. Anyway, the foreclosures they looked at Friday were in really bad shape. Daddy said they were not a good deal considering they would have to be completely gutted. He is willing to do a kitchen or a bathroom, but not both. The pictures on the Internet didn't look bad, but in person, they were. The one house was only three years old and Mama thought in the pictures it looked like the carpet had mud on it. It was not mud. It was stained with urine. The entire carpet was covered in urine. Mama said she had trouble breathing in that house.

Yesterday, they went to an open house, but no one was there. What's up with that? They came home and checked the computer and yes, it was scheduled for yesterday, but they guess it was canceled and not updated. Grrr!

Mama bought a new coat yesterday because she is freezing on our walks. She got new gloves, too, so she is set for the snowstorm that is coming tomorrow. We are not looking forward to more snow.

Today, they are headed out to look at three more homes. There is one that Mama is really interested in and if these pictures lie, Mama is going to give up on the Internet search. LOL She said that she thinks one of the three will be nasty, but Daddy is determined to see it.

Scout and I are not happy being left behind on these home searches, but Mama says it's for the best. Best for who? I think we should have a say on where we live.

Daddy is headed out of town tomorrow, so you know what that means? Pizza man is coming over. Oh, that doesn't sound very proper does it? He's just bringing us pizza and then leaving. LOL

Jack
The Greyhound Who Doesn't Like Being Left Behind On Home Searches

Two Weeks Of Hotel Living

Well, it's been two weeks since we moved into the hotel. Last night, Daddy said that he doesn't think about our old house and he doesn't miss it. What? How could he say that? We miss it. We miss our yard. Scout really misses running laps in it. Scout would just break into a run without warning. She would run four laps one way and then turn around and run the other way. The whole time she was running, Mama would be screaming "BE CAREFUL, BE CAREFUL". You see our yard went down a hill and Mama was scared she would run into the fence. We also had a mole problem and our yard was pretty torn up. Mama was so scared we would get hurt.

Personally, I miss running in the house. I would always get in trouble for it, but I still would take off and run until they stopped me. I only got hurt once and that happened a few months after I moved there. I crashed into the wall and broke it. Daddy repaired it several times, but it never looked quite right. I didn't get hurt bad. I just scrapped my leg, but the wall lost a lot of dry wall.

Hotel living is a lot noisier than our old house, but you have to remember that not much happened there. We saw more wildlife than people. We miss the deer, turkey, and birds. We hear people closing doors around here and airplanes fly over quite often. We are getting used to it, but it's not as exciting as you might think. We had a hotel worker come to our room the other day and that's why our beds got stacked. Mama needed to make room for him to walk through the room and then we decided we liked it that way, so during the day we have a stacked bed and at night it is taken down.

The parking lot is full of vehicles of the claims adjusters that are staying here due to the tornado damage nearby. Daddy said the disasters are good business for extended stay hotels. He's been in the hotel business for 24 years, so I guess he knows.

Mama and Daddy are going house hunting tomorrow with the agent, so maybe we will have a fenced yard soon.

Jack
The Greyhound Who Is Getting To Be A Pro At Hotel Living

Wordless Wednesday - Hotel Comfort

Jack
The Greyhound Who Likes His Beds Stacked

I Had A Nice Birthday

Thank you for all the birthday wishes. I had a nice day. It started out with a morning walk and then breakfast. After breakfast, we helped Mama with the laundry. We have to take it to the laundry room here. While it was washing, we walked around the office buildings. Mama dropped us off in the room while she put the clothes into the dryer and then it was time to start our regular work day. Mama worked for about a half hour and then went back to the laundry room to get the clothes. We then helped put them away. Around noon time, we got in the car and went to McDonalds! Scout and I had a McChicken. I love poultry. Late in the afternoon, we took another long walk around the office complex. We came back and napped and then it was time to fix dinner. As a special treat, Scout and I were given some canned food. Yummy! Then, we got ready for another walk and to our surprise Daddy was in the parking lot, so he went with us. We came back to the room and we watched him eat dinner. We then took yet another walk. We walk a lot here. LOL We came back and watched TV and chewed bones and then it was time for our final walk of the day. We then went to to bed. That was my birthday. Mama forgot to give us our Frosty Treats, but she said we had enough special things yesterday and we can have them today.

Jack
The Greyhound Who Is Turning Into A Walking Fool

It's My Birthday!!!!

Today is my birthday! I'm 7! Mama can't believe I'm that old already. She adopted me when I was just 2.5 years old. I don't feel any older and I still have tons of energy, so life is good.

Mama let me sleep in until 6:15 a.m. and then we took a walk. The weather is supposed to be nice today, sunny and a high around 45. We are going to go to McDonalds for lunch to celebrate my birthday. Yes, living in the city definitely has it's benefits.

Do you know what we noticed this morning? There is an office building near us that had a beautiful Christmas tree in the lobby. Well, the tree was there at 10 p.m. last night, but at 6:15 a.m. this morning, it is gone. :-O We really enjoyed looking at the tree each morning. It was really pretty on Christmas Eve with the snow falling and the tree being all lit up. We are just surprised that someone either came in really early and took it down or someone works the night shift and it is their job to dismantle the tree.

Jack
The Greyhound Who Is Celebrating His Birthday

The Pizza Man Is Real!

Yesterday, we spent the entire day driving around looking at houses. We looked in three different counties and I think there were 13 in all. We found two that we were interested in seeing again, but then discovered that one of them does not have high speed Internet which is a requirement due to Mama's job. It is definitely frustrating and some of the roads getting to the houses were terrible. We are not talking just being gravel because we lived on a gravel road we are talking roads that if you didn't have 4-wheel drive, you wouldn't make it. They don't tell you that when you are looking at them on the Internet.

We got home around 5 p.m. and Mama said she was too tired to cook and Daddy said "it sounds like the Pizza Man needs to come." I couldn't believe my ears. Mama didn't even have to call him on the phone. She just ordered it on the Internet. A little bit later our phone rang and he was asking for directions. The next thing we knew, he was knocking at the door. Daddy stepped out to get the pizza, so I didn't actually see him. I guess the next time I will stand at the window to see what he looks like. I did hear him speak, so I know he is real. Daddy is going out of town in a week, so Mama said we will order again while he is out of town.

Jack
The Greyhound Who Was Visited By The PIZZA MAN!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!!!!!

We had a very quiet new year's eve. We were in bed by 10:30 p.m. and didn't wake up at midnight. We thought it might be noisy here in the city, but nothing. At our old place, fireworks were shot off at midnight and that always woke us up.

We are going with the folks today to look at houses. We are just driving by places to see if we are interested in seeing the inside. We have found that houses can look great on the Internet, but then when we see the actual neighborhood, we are no longer interested. Mama and Daddy will go out with the agent next weekend to actually tour houses. He is out of town this weekend.

We still can't believe that a tornado hit near our old house yesterday. We still haven't heard if there was any damage to it, but we think it is okay since it is a few miles from where the main damage occurred.

Jack
The Greyhound Who Is Now A House Hunter