We Have Another BIG Announcement

The folks made a BIG decision while we were living on the road, but just announced it to the family today.  We are going to sell our house. The house became a burden for us while we were traveling. There was the constant worry that it was okay. The Grandfolks checked in on it, but that is a lot to ask of them. We hired my skin cousin to cut the grass, but our lawnmower broke the first time he used it, so then the Grandfolks had to bring theirs over for him to use each time.  A storm caused some damage to a tree, so that had to be handled.  I think it was on that day that Mama told Dad she thought they should sell. Dad said he had been thinking the same thing.  We are spending about $3,000 in taxes and insurance and it seems silly to have an empty house. We don't want to rent it out because that would be more work and worry for us while we are on the road.

What will we do next winter?  Well, if Dad is sent someplace cold, we will take the motor home to a warm location and spend the winter there. If we have to be away from Dad, we would like to be someplace warm. Houston's average temps in the winter are in the 60's and that is fine with us.

As soon as we got home, Mama spoke with the realtor we used to sell the other the house and buy this one.  She told him that there was a 10% chance it would go on the market in November, but most likely it would be February. Well, all of that changed this week.  The house will go on the market the week of Thanksgiving!  As you know, Mama has been purging and painting like crazy.  She has three weeks to have all our personal items gone and she is making good progress. We are selling our house furnished and if the buyers don't want it furnished, our agent will handle getting rid of the furniture. We worked with him for over a year previously and have full trust in him. We will not be coming back and he says that is not a problem. He has handled sales like this before. Dad will be very busy when he gets home. He will have two weeks to put up trim, doors, sell his truck, ATV and a few other items. It will be crazy, but once we reach Houston, we will rest.

Today, Mama had a Jeep full of items to deliver to Goodwill, the consignment shop and Aunt Pam. She gave Aunt Pam her favorite Thanksgiving platter as well as Christmas dishes, cookie plates and things like that. Mama said she was happy to keep those things in the family.

Mama is keeping only a few items that will need to go in storage. She really didn't want to put anything in storage, but since Dad said he had a few items he didn't want to get rid of, she chose a few things to keep.  She is keeping Christmas ornaments that belonged to her grandparents  (They are big silver balls that are heavy), her Dad's mantel clock, a China cabinet that Dad's Grandparents gave his Mom and a few of  Dad's Grandmother's things.  Mama is also keeping her Kitchen Aid mixer and sewing machine.  Dad said she could keep whatever fits in the China cabinet, so she has a few ceramic pieces that she has had for many years.  Mama is taking her wedding album with her.  She hasn't decided if she wants to keep her high school yearbooks.  Mama debated on a few other items, but she put them out on the counter for a few days and decided she didn't need them. 

Scout says that all this purging makes her nervous.  I think it is fun!  I think just about everything is fun though.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Will Have A Texas Address Soon

Oh, Boy!

We found out some very exciting news tonight!

 It appears that our HUGE adventure is going to start up again!

 Are you listening to me?

 Yep, we just got word that after Thanksgiving, we will be headed out again!

 He is being sent to Houston for three months!  The folks talked about it and decided that even though they wanted to save money by us staying here through the winter months, that it was more important that we were all together. 

I guess things could still change, but for now, we are preparing for Houston. We will be in a different part of town this time, so we will be at a different RV park. There is a lot to do to get ready such as doctor visits, vet visits, home repairs and other things that we will tell you about later. Mama had two days to rest and now she has to get back to work!  She is already drooling thinking about her favorite restaurants in Houston.  BOL!

Scout,
The Greyhound Who Broke The Big News This Time

Painting And Purging Continues

Our title today doesn't sound good, does it?  LOL   Sunday, Mama started painting the trim for the bedrooms.  She had it almost completed, but then the Grand Folks brought more over.  Mama is taking a break for a few days from her painting.  Her back is a little sore from all the lifting and bending over.

Yesterday, she took more things to Goodwill.  Today, she took more things to the consignment shop.  She has another appointment for later in the week with the consignment shop and that may be it for a while.

She ordered a few books for our next adventure from Amazon and they arrived yesterday.  She loves Amazon because you can buy used books that are in great condition.  She has a Kindle, but she wanted a real copy of the travel books.  The first book is the National Geographic Guide to National Parks of the United States.  It seems to have a lot of useful information.  The second book is Watch It Made In The U.S.A.  This book is a guide to to the best factory tours and company museums.  This would have come in handy on our last HUGE adventure.  Mama is very happy with both of the books.

Scout and I have just been hanging out watching Mama box things up. We have had a few good runs in the yard.  Mama says we are being very good for her.  I spend as much time as possible on the deck watching over my kingdom.

The fall colors are really pretty here.  Here are a few from our yard. There are prettier colors elsewhere, but we don't always have our camera with us.  Maybe we will take a ride later this week and get better photos.

 

 

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Staying On His Toes So He Doesn't Get Purged!  BOL

Meet & Greet 10/13

We have been sleeping late the past few days. When we were in Illinois and Indiana we had to get up at 4 a.m. because Dad had to ride the train. Yesterday, we woke up at 6 a.m. with Mama screaming "IT'S TRASH DAY!  WE CAN'T BE LATE!" She had a lot of trash to put out since we are becoming minimalist. There are just some things that Goodwill doesn't want.  What?  We can't even remember what she put out there, but she had six bags full of trash. She was a little nervous when the trash man came and he sat there for a while. We think he was making sure that we were on his list of stops again. Another company stopped first, but then they realized we weren't on their list.  Anyway, our trash guy took all our trash and Mama was happy.

Mama then took some things to the consignment store.  She is trying to sell her crystal and Dad's beer steins.  They were surprised that our glassware was indeed real crystal.  She has an appointment to take in other items next week.  They prefer appointments and since we are out of their "district", she can bring in 25 items at a time.  Mama doesn't think she will get much for her items, but it is easier than trying to sell them on Ebay.  She really hates just donating those items. We don't think minimalist have crystal and beer steins. LOL 

After Mama got home, she surprised us by taking us to the park.  She wanted us to practice on our ramp.  I do fine with the ramp, but Scout is not so sure about it. We walked around the park and had a lot of fun sniffing.

Today, we woke up at 7 a.m.   Mama informed us that we were going to a meet and greet. We got to see our friends from  Greyhound Companions of Missouri.  Mama was a little nervous because Dad said "You are going to take both of them?"  She hadn't really thought it would be a problem since she walked us all over while we traveled.   We did fine except for my whining while we drove there. I was too tired to whine on the way home. I whine when I am excited, so deal with it!

Want to see some exciting photos from the meet and greet?  Are you sure you are ready?

Scout with her tongue stuck to the floor.

Me

Scout

 Mama should have taken photos of the other dogs. She is bad. 

After we got home, we took a nap.  Meet and greets are exhausting!

Me relaxing by my door.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Exhausted From Meeting And Greeting

Off The Road For A Week

We have been home for a week now.  We have accomplished a lot.  Dad completed several tasks before he left on Monday.  Since Monday, Mama has painted two bedrooms, made four trips to Goodwill, applied for her passport, got a haircut, looked for landscaping plants and did a few other things.  She has been busy!   She still has a lot to do.  She needs to paint the trim that Dad bought to put up when he gets home.  There is still more purging to do here.  She has some items that she wants to take to a consignment store.

Yesterday, she painted the other bedroom.  This is her sewing/junk room.  The painting of this room went very smoothly.  She completed it in four hours.  We did have one incident when she opened the windows in that room.  Ants were living in the window and she didn't notice them until she opened the windows.  The window sills were covered with hundreds of ants.  I thought it was pretty cool.  She sprayed them and wouldn't let me near them.

The before photo.  It really was a pretty purple.

During the painting.

Completed!  It is the same color as the other bedroom.

I have been enjoying the deck.  I have only seen one bunny though.  What happened to all the others? I came close to catching a squirrel, but he got a way.  At night, I like to lay in front of the front door and look out.  I haven't seen anything interesting, but you never know what might pass by.

Watching over my kingdom.

Normally, I sleep in the living room at night, but since Dad has been away, I have been sleeping in the bedroom with Mama and Scout. Scout and I each have our own beds in the bedroom.  It is crowded in there, but I think Mama likes me being nearby at night.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Enjoys Watching Over His Kingdom

Our Attempt At A Wordless Wednesday

On Our Own

Dad left yesterday at 2:45 a.m. for the airport.  He didn't even wake us up to say goodbye.  Mama took him to the airport and was back around 4:30 a.m.  She fixed breakfast after she got home and then went to bed for two hours.  She then fixed a big batch of chili. She froze most of it to eat later.  After that, she started painting the bedroom.  She has been wanting to paint that room since we moved here. 

This is the before.  It is dark purple with gold.

Red paint from a previous time was on the ceiling.  The picture shows the color of the purple better than the other one.

 Mama has never painted before.  She has watched Dad many times.  Dad never uses tape to prevent paint from getting where it shouldn't. Mama put tape around the door, but that ended up not working so well.  She is going to have to paint over some purple that the tape covered up. She didn't use tape on the ceiling and she did just fine.  The roller did hit the ceiling a few times, so she will have to cover that up, but it's not a big deal because she was able to cover up the red paint without any issues.  Dad said hitting the ceiling was a rookie mistake. 

Mama says her technique would not be approved of by Dad, but she got the job done and she thinks it looks just fine.  It took her about five hours and Dad said that was really good considering she did it all on her own and had to move furniture, etc.

How many coats of paint do you think it took?  It only took one thanks to the paint that has primer in it.

This is the room now.  It is a sand color.

The room looks much bigger now.  Mama is very happy with the look of it. She wanted it to be a little darker, but she is not painting it again.  LOL   We have one more purple room that needs to be painted.  Mama is not going to do it today because she is sore and tired from yesterday. She has other things that she can do today.

Dad arrived in Jamaica without any issues.  His cell phone doesn't work there, so last night he called us from an office phone.  We are not sure he will be allowed to do that on a daily basis.  He knows the general manager there, so it may not be an issue.  We think he is going to enjoy his stay there more than St. Thomas.

We were asked what Dad does for a living. He works for a major hotel chain.  He fills in for managers when their position are empty.  That is why we don't have much notice as to where we are going or for how long because the position could be filled quickly or it might take months.

Guess what?  I have been running in the yard!  In case you don't know my story, I had a leg injury and had not been allowed to run before our HUGE adventure began.  I had two surgeries in the nine months that I lived here.  Well, I guess I did run once before we left, but now I am legal.  Scout and I ran and ran on Sunday.  Last night, I was running and stopped to dig a hole.  Mama says we have a mole in the yard and that's why the ground collapsed and now we have a deep hole.  The yard is now closed to us until she fills it with dirt.  She says we could put our leg in the hole and get hurt.  It never ends.   I started digging another hole and Mama said "Joey, are you digging another hole?"  I quickly laid on the hole so that she couldn't see it.  I'll finish it later.  BOL

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Likes To Run And Dig Holes